The Elysia Wars
by Aynslesa
Summary: The Animorphs get a call for help from a very unlikely source.
1. Default Chapter Title

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The Elysia Wars #1 _Entering Elysia_

_Prologue_

The warrior stood silently on the broad hilltop, gazing out over his haven. There had been peace in Elysia since the dawn of time, but he could sense that something was wrong.

His gaze fell on the small, one story building he and his wife called home. He could see his wife standing by the window, staring up at the sky like she had for four nights straight. She had barely talked to him since she'd started to experience the dreams. 

A calm breeze blew over the hilltop, and the warrior shivered despite the warm night. Something caught his eye suddenly. Fixing his full gaze on the sky, he could just make out the tiny, red pinpricks of light that appeared to be coming closer.

With a sense of dread, the warrior began to run back to his haven. Peace would not last much longer in Elysia.

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Chapter One – Ax

My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, but my human friends call me Ax. I am not human, I am an Andalite. I am the only true Andalite on the planet. The other is the Yeerk leader, Visser Three. He's an Andalite-Controller, the only one in the universe.

I was walking through the woods, passing time until Tobias, my shorm, returned from visiting Rachel. I was bored. I'd already read all the books in my scoop, there was nothing good on television, and I wasn't hungry. According to my friends, I've gotten much better at acting human, but Prince Jake still doesn't think it's a good idea for me to wander around in human morph on my own. So I must stay in the woods.

I was standing near a stream that runs behind the meadow where my scoop is located when I heard it. A rapid pounding of hooves heading in my direction. I quickly dove behind a clump of bushes. I was used to people riding horses in the area.

Then I heard the sound of gunshots.

A figure came bursting out of the bushes on the other side of the stream. I stared in shock and surprise as I looked at him. The blue fur. The stalk eyes. The tail. It was an Andalite.

A Hork-Bajir stepped out of the bushes, with a human-Controller right behind him. The human-Controller held an automatic rifle in his hand, and he probably had a Dracon beam stashed away somewhere, too.

"You've led us on a nice chase, Andalite," the Controller said, "but its time for you to come back to Elysia. Or die."

Go to hell, the Andalite snapped. You can't kill us all. 

"We shall see, Andalite. But you won't." He raised his gun and pointed it straight at the Andalite's hearts. 

I had to help! There was no time to morph, so I had to rely on my speed and tail. The Andalite turned to run, but he was blocked by the stream. He'd never jump over it in time!

Taking a deep breath, I shot out of the bushes, leaped over the stream, and pushed Andalite out of the way. At the same time, the Controller pulled the trigger on his weapon and fired three times. Each bullet bit into the bark of the trees on the other side of the stream. By the time he reached for his Dracon beam, we were gone.

Once I was certain the Controllers weren't following us, I led the Andalite back to my scoop. Are you okay? I asked him.

He nodded. Just shaken, he said. It's been a long time since anyone tried to shoot me. 

My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. Most call me Ax. How did you get on Earth?

The Andalite started breathing a little more normally. It's a long story. I was sent here to get help for my haven. I was told there was a group of morph-capable humans who could help us. I wasn't aware of another Andalite, though. 

I stared at him. How did you find out about the Animorphs? 

From my shorm, the Andalite explained. When he was alive, he was prince in the Andalite military and he gave me lots of information. 

I was focused on the words 'when he was alive'. _When he was alive?_ Does that mean you – him -- ? I was more confused than ever.

Are dead? He laughed. I guess you could say that. It's a long story, actually, and I'd like to just tell it once. Do you know where I can find the human morphers? 

Yes, I do, I answered. They're not far. I knew Prince Jake was helping Cassie at her barn. Marco was probably at his house, and hopefully Rachel and Tobias were somewhere close by.

The two of us hurried to the barn as fast as we could. Just inside the woods, I stopped and looked for Prince Jake or Cassie. I spotted Cassie walking towards her house.

Cassie! I called. I know you cannot answer me, but I need you and the others to come to the edge of the woods. I found another Andalite. 

Cassie immediately turned and ran for the barn.

The Andalite and I barely waited fifteen minutes before all five of my friends were standing in front of us.

"It _is_ an Andalite!" Marco exclaimed in surprise. 

Tobias was perched on a log. Where did he come from? he asked.

Prince Jake looked at him. "Ax says you need our help."

He nodded. You'll probably want me to start at the beginning. 

"That would be helpful," Cassie said, sitting on a large rock. 

Okay, he said. My name is Arbron. I was sent here by the late Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. 

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Chapter Two – Arbron

The humans and Ax were surprised. Actually, surprised wasn't the right word. They were more than surprised.

"Elfangor?" one of them repeated. He was the taller of the two boys, and had a definite take-charge attitude. "He gave us the power to morph."

I already knew that whole story, so I just nodded. Ax seemed to be a little more shaken up. Why does he need help? he asked cautiously. He's dead.

I laughed. And not enjoying it, I guarantee. Then again, none of us exactly are, but we pull our own weight. Our haven, Elysia, used to be a very peaceful community in the afterlife.

The tall boy looked like he had a headache. "Please, back up. For starters, what's Elysia? And who's 'we'?"

I was more than willing to talk if it meant getting help. After you die, depending on your life, you're sent to a community. On rare occasions, a person can be switched to a different community, but not too often. Our community it Elysia.

Usually, everybody gets along well. But now an unknown evil is destroying the communities. With each destruction, Elysia is coming closer and closer to disappearing from existence entirely . . . and all of its inhabitants as well.

The shorter girl was frowning. "But aren't you already dead?"

It was time to tell all. I closed my eyes briefly, organized my thoughts, and when I opened them again, the humans and Ax were all looking at me expectantly. No one in the community is capable of hate. In Elysia, everyone is kind-hearted. If you were mostly good, then you enter a good community. But if you're destroyed in the community, your soul becomes . . . evil.

The bird fixated his fierce gaze on me. How do we know you're for real? If Elfangor's in danger, why'd he send you and not come himself?

He was doubting me? Elfangor is trying to rally up a combined defense with the remaining communities, I snapped. Not to mention trying to stop half of Elysia from panicking. We've already lost two scouting teams. If it weren't for the Core Base keeping things together, we'd already be dead.

Ax asked, How long has this been going on?

Almost a year, Elysian time. The time is very different between Elysia and Earth. I've been here about a day Earth time. I have no clue how long I've been gone in Elysia. But I'd be dead and gone if we were already too late.

The tall male exchanged a glance with the short female. "How would get to . . . Elysia?"

Oh, that's easy, I said quickly. All you need is an Escafil Device.

"Oh, is that all?" the short male said sarcastically. He reminded me of one of the Core members.

"Relax, Marco," the tall male said. "We have the blue box, remember? Ax, why don't you go to your scoop and get it?"

That won't be necessary, I said quickly. I had one right here. I reached into my hip pack and pulled a miniature version of the original Escafil Device. It wouldn't give somebody morphing abilities, but it'll work fine for what we need it for.

Ax looked at it and nodded slightly. Where did you get it?

One of our Core members, a Pemalite named Devone created it. Devone was one of the original Pemalites who created their android race, the Chee, so he's extremely good with science, I replied. He puts the smartest Andalite to shame. So, are you going to help?

The shorter male and the taller female glanced at each other. "I don't remember voting," the male said.

The tall male rolled his eyes. "We didn't."

We have to go, the bird said. Elfangor gave his life for us. The least we can do is save what little he has left.

The tall male looked at me. "We know your name, but you don't know ours. I'm Jake. That's Rachel, Cassie, and Marco, and the hawk is Tobias. You've already met Ax."

I nodded in greeting. If we go, we must go now. The Escafil will only work for a short period of time, and I don't want those Yeerks to come back and find you here.

"Good point," Rachel agreed. "So, what do we do?"

Basically what you did to receive the power to morph. Touch your hands to the side of cube. Or, for those without hands, touch someone touching the cube. Tobias fluttered up onto Rachel's shoulder as she touched the cube. I closed my eyes and pictured Elysia the way it had looked when I had last seen it, then told the Device to transport. 

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Chapter Three – Tobias

I'll admit it – I was nervous. Why wouldn't I be? I was about to see my father face to face for the first time since he'd died. Would he recognize me? Did he know that I was one of the "morph-capable humans"? 

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice everyone staring at me until Marco said, "Um, Tobias?"

"What?" I asked, looking up. Then I realized that I had just spoken out loud. 

Arbron looked at me. Were you trapped in morph?

I nodded. "Yeah. The Ellimist gave me my morphing power back, but I was trapped."

Elysia sees right through any morph, Arbron explained. It knew that was not Tobias' true form, that it was not his soul, and made him human. You'll find that you can still morph from human.

Well, that was a relief. At least I wouldn't be out of the mission already. If there was a mission. We were quite sure what we'd find.

"Where to now?" Jake asked. 

Arbron started walking out of the swirling void we were in. Now we make the transition from Earth to Elysia. He walked right through the void's walls. The rest of us glanced at each other, then followed him through.

"Whoa!" 

"Ohmigod!" 

"Wow!"

We were surrounded by trees. Lush, green trees. Spiraling blue trees. Pink trees, yellow trees – there was an amazing assortment. It was like someone had taken a hundred different species of trees and put them all together in one forest. Even Ax was amazed. Only Arbron was used to the forest. These trees are a mix of several different planets. You can tell by the trees which species we have here. See, there's obviously Andalites, judging from that derrishoul over there. And that spruce tree signifies humans. There are about fifty different species in Elysia.

"Where is Elysia?" Cassie asked. "The town, I mean."

This way, Arbron said. He motioned for us to follow him as he started walking through the forest. I noticed Ax was walking a little ways behind everyone else, so I fell back and started walking next to him. 

"What's the matter?" I asked. "You're quiet."

Ax shrugged, a very human gesture for an Andalite. He'd been on Earth so much, that lately the only thing Andalite about him was his form. I don't know, he sighed. I guess maybe it's the thought of seeing Elfangor again. It's been almost three years since he died. Three years since I last saw him, and the last thing I ever said to him was 'go burn some slugs'.

"You didn't know you'd never see him again," I said. "I feel the same way about my mother. You know, she abandoned me when I was three, and I've wondered for a long time what I did to make her leave. Everyone said she was crazy, always talking about aliens and stuff, but now that I know who my father is, I wonder sometimes if she really was crazy or not. And that means she left on her own. One day, she just dropped me off with my aunt, and took off. I never saw her again."

Ax looked at me. You don't seem upset when you talk about your mother. Not like Marco.

"Yeah, well, that's because Marco actually remembers his mother. He actually knows what she looks like. I don't," I scoffed. 

Hurry up, you two, Arbron called back. Ax and I had fallen behind everyone else. Ax and I hurried to catch up, when I heard something behind me. I stopped and listened. Tobias. Arbron said again.

A rustling above me caught my attention. It sounded like someone – or something – was in the tree above me. When I didn't hear it again, I figured it was just the wind.

Then, before I could move, something dropped down from the tree, grabbed me from behind, and pressed a very sharp knife against my throat. 

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Chapter Four – Rachel

"Tobias!" I shouted when I saw the knife. Tobias stood very still, almost not breathing. His eyes were wide, and his face had gone pale. I wondered if I'd be able to morph before his attacker used the knife.

Then Arbron pushed his way through us. Loren, put the knife _down_.

The knife immediately withdrew, but the woman standing behind Tobias didn't put it away. She did step away from Tobias, who backed away several paces. 

"Arbron?" Loren demanded.

Do you know any other Andalite who might be walking through the woods with five humans and one Andalite that aren't dead? Arbron asked. What are you doing?

Loren rolled her eyes and slid the knife back into her boot. "Trying to protect Elysia. Evil things from Crayak's realm have been coming through that entrance. Some of them were the destroyed souls from around here."

"Crayak?" Jake asked sharply. 

Loren nodded. "Crayak runs the wastelands, Ellimist runs the communities. In a way, Ellimist is 'god' and Crayak is the 'devil'. But it's even more technical than that."

Want to walk with us back to Elysia? Arbron asked. 

Loren glanced up at the sky. "I was already on my way back. Elfangor's called a meeting of all Core members. You came just in time."

How long have I been gone? Arbron asked once we started moving. He spoke in openly so that the rest of us could hear his questions. 

"About a month, Elysian time," Loren answered. "Elfangor's been worried sick. He was about ready to go after you himself."

He would, wouldn't he? Arbron laughed. By the way, Loren, I'd like you to meet the Animorphs, as they call themselves. Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Ax, Marco, and Tobias.

Loren looked at us and nodded. "Nice to meet you all. You don't know how much we appreciate you coming."

"The Yeerks were being pretty quiet, so we figured we'd take a vacation from them," Jake said.

"Walking into a certain war in the afterlife is _not_ my idea of a vacation, Jake," Marco muttered. Loren smiled. 

We walked in silence for awhile, and while we did, I got a chance to study Loren. She was tall, with blond hair that came down to about her waist. She wasn't wearing any make-up, but she was pretty just the same. Her clothes I definitely approved of, and she looked athletic. "So, Loren, how come we didn't see you in that tree?" I asked as I walked beside her.

Loren laughed. "With the Yeerks after my head because I once threw a rock at Visser Three's face, I took a survival training course. In the end, it didn't help, but I still remember what I learned. I led them on a big chase, though – I had to. I couldn't let them get to my son."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said sadly. "I left him when he was three with my sister, and I haven't seen him since."

_Chapter Five – Elfangor_

Where is she? I snapped. She should've been back thirty minutes ago! I was pacing back and forth in the Council Circle, with about seven Core members assembled behind me.

Mat Hewk, a Hork-Bajir, looked at me nervously. "She will be here, Elfangor," he said. "We sent the message out an hour ago. She will come."

She shouldn't have left in the first place! I shouted.

One of the late Core, a Alleri serpent named Strike, came slithering quickly towards us. Alleri's can slither very fast. "Elfangor!" she called. "I sssaw Arbron! He hasss brought the human morphersss! Loren isss with him ass well." 

Thank the Ellimist, I breathed. Where are they?

Strike took her place with the rest of the Core. "They were right behind me," she said breathlessly. 

Tycoola, a Farsight (Farsights look like large birds and they can see for miles), was scanning the crowd. "There!" she cried. "Coming over the ridge."

Of course, none of us saw anything. The Council Circle was in the far side of the haven – the ridge was about a mile away. What do you see, Tycoola?

"I see Loren and Arbron, along with six youngsters. Five humans, and one Andalite. The Andalite is male, there are three human males, and two human females. They're staring at each building as they walk by, as if they are surprised. One boy seems shaken up, and is walking behind everyone else."

I've always marveled about Farsight eyes. They're amazing. Even though Andalite eyesight isn't bad – we _are _impossible to sneak up on – a Farsight can see every little detail of something for about ten miles straight. I know. I've morphed a Farsight on occasion. Only when necessary, of course. 

Tycoola gave us a running commentary on the group as they approached the Circle. Then, I noticed the very edge of the crowd beginning to part. I walked quickly to the end of the Circle. Where have you _been?_ I demanded when I saw Loren. 

Loren rolled her eyes. "I was guarding the portal entrance, O Great One. I didn't know I had to check in with you before I started working."

I specifically told you that I wanted you to stay in the haven, I snapped. Why don't you ever listen to me?

"Why should I?" Loren shot back. "Just because I've been married to you these past five years doesn't mean I have to do everything you say. Jeez. Take a chill pill, Elfangor." 

I can't have anyone going off into the forests without consent, Loren, I growled. We've already lost two scouting parties and a school group to this thing. I don't wan to lose you, too.

"I can take care of myself," Loren snapped. 

I was about to answer when I was interrupted. Hey, you two, can you continue this later? We have guests. The last thing I think they want to see is the two of you yelling your heads off at each other.

Stay out of this, Arbron, I growled, turned so I was facing him. Loren chose that moment to walk over to the rest of the Core. This isn't over, Loren.

Strike snickered and whispered to one of the dragon's, Srangi, "Yeah, right. We all know what _they'll_ be doing later."

I heard that, Strike, I said. And all I have to say is, how much do you _really_ want to see the Viral up close and personal? 

Strike shut up quickly, and Srangi stopped smirking. Loren was trying not to smile. I shook my head. Leave it to Strike to break the tension. Welcome back, Arbron, I said as he stepped forward. We exchanged an Andalite salute, which consists of grasping the other person's arm with your hand. Sort of like a human handshake. The meaning's the same, at least. Did you bring the morphers?

Arbron nodded. You told me about five humans, but you didn't mention an Andalite. Good thing he was there – he saved me from almost getting my hooves shot off.

An Andalite? I repeated. There's an Andalite?

Yeah, another, familiar voice said. There's an Andalite.

For the first time I noticed the young Andalite standing behind Arbron. 

Aximili, I whispered in shock.

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Chapter Six – Ax

Elfangor was staring at me like he'd seen a ghost. I had already gotten pat that. From the moment Arbron had led us through the crowd, I had scanned everyone for Elfangor. When I had seen him, I had just stood there. I had wanted to run up to him and give him a hug, but that wouldn't have been right. 

Aximili, he whispered.

It's Ax now, actually, I said. Surprised to see me?

Very, Elfangor replied, stepping forward. Arbron went over to stand with the rest of the people in the center of the circle. How did you survive the Dome ship attack?

I almost didn't, I answered. I was in the dome when it crashed into one of Earth's oceans. Fortunately, Cassie and Tobias heard my cries for help and the Animorphs came to my rescue. I've been fighting alongside them ever since. That was about three years ago. A few months after you . . . died.

Elfangor seemed to notice Prince Jake and the others for the first time. Of course, Elfangor said warmly. The . . . Animorphs, is that what you call yourselves? Clever. I'm glad to see you're all still alive.

"Barely," Marco muttered. "Too many close calls, and some of us _have_ actually 'died' before."

I'm sorry you had to listen to all that, Elfangor said to the six of us. 

"But he's not sorry we had to!" the Alleri serpent, the one who had spoken before, said. 

Elfangor glared at the serpent. Excuse Strike. Sometimes she doesn't know when to quit.

"That's okay," Rachel said. "We're used to it. We've got Marco, after all." Marco rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Marco said quickly. "Nothing at all."

Elfangor turned to look at the assembled crowd. In light of the fact that Arbron has returned, this meeting is no longer necessary. Now, remember that I expect all of you to treat these Animorphs with the respect that they deserve. Sorry about interrupting your schedule. Council dismissed.

Soon the only people still standing near us were Elfangor, Loren, Arbron, Strike, a Hork-Bajir, a Pemalite, a Farsight, and a Dragon. Let's go into the meeting house, Elfangor suggested. You might find it more comforting, and I'm afraid my house isn't large enough for all of us.

Inside the meeting room, we all assembled around a large table. For the humans, Hork-Bajir, and Pemalite, there were chairs. The rest of had to stand. "Hey, Elfangor, are we going to do introductionsss?" Strike asked. 

Elfangor nodded. You already know me, Loren, and Arbron. As for the rest of this group, the Alleri serpent – and resident comic relief – is Strike. Mat Hewk is the Hork-Bajir, our scientist is the Pemalite Devone, our lookout is Tycoola – she's a Farsight – and Srangi the Dragon is one of our best scouts.

Prince Jake glanced at me. You make the introductions, I said. You're the leader. He rolled his eyes. Prince Jake doesn't like being called the leader. But he stood up anyway. 

"My name is Jake. I'm the unofficial leader of this little group. To my left is my cousin, Rachel. Next to her is Marco, and you already know Ax. To my right is Cassie, and next to her is Tobias, who's usually a bird but for some reason that Arbron explained but I can't quite remember, he's human right now." Prince Jake seemed relieved to sit down again, even though I thought he handled it quite nicely. 

Elfangor glanced briefly at Tobias, who wouldn't look at anyone but the table. I guess you'd like to know what's going on, he said a minute later. 

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Chapter Seven – Marco

This was not the type of vacation I wanted. My idea of a vacation is going down to Florida, hanging out at the beach with a bunch of gorgeous girls in bathing suits paying loads of attention to me, and maybe going to Disney World once in awhile. 

My idea of a vacation was _not_ sitting around a table listening to the dead Andalite prince who gave my friends and me the power to morph tell pretty much the same story another Andalite had told us, only with much more detail, causing the story to take twice as long and leave me twice as depressed about our chances.

We've already lost two scouting parties, Elfangor said. We still don't have any idea about what we're dealing with here. All we know is that, whatever it is, it's fast, smart, and well hidden. It's already wiped out eight of the outer communities. Elysia is part of the fourth ring – this thing has to get through three more rings before it gets to us. Its on the second ring already.

"But that's good, right?" Rachel asked. "If this has been going on for a year and it's only on the second ring, that means it's moving slow, right?"

"How big is each ring?" Jake asked.

"Each ring is the equivalent to one whole planet," Srangi answered. "If you were to cut Earth up into rings, then unravel each ring and hook it together so that it's one large ring, that's about as big as the first ring. The second ring fits inside that, then the third, then the fourth, and so on until you get to the home of the Ellimists. The timelines."

Tobias let out a low whistle. Everyone looked at him. He looked up from where he was pretending great interest in the wood grain of the table. "If it took one year to wipe out the whole first ring, and half of the second ring, then it'll be on the third ring in about a month and a half. And who's to say it'll wait to destroy that whole ring before coming here? This thing is moving fast. Like a virus."

"A virus," Devone muttered. "A virus . . . hmmm."

I glanced at Ax, who was staring at Devone. He looked at me. Suddenly I realized what Tobias had just said. "That's it!" I shouted.

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Chapter Eight – Rachel 

Marco shouted, "That's it!" 

I fell off my chair. "Ow!" 

"You okay?" Jake asked, helping me up. 

"Yeah," I muttered. I glared at Marco. "What's it, you moron? Next time, warn me before you do that."

"Tobias said it," Marco exclaimed. "It's a virus."

What's a virus? Elfangor asked. 

I guess Ax was quicker than his brother. The enemy, he said. That's why you can't track it. It's a virus, like the flu or phenomena. That's how it's killing people – it's making them sick. And somehow it's affecting the plants and other things, too."

Loren nodded. "That could be it. But that doesn't explain one thing. How can a virus wipe out the ring so that there's _no_ trace of it? There isn't even any soil. It's like something just tore it up."

Tobias stood up and looked out the window. "What's up?" I asked. "You have an idea?"

He nodded. "This afterlife is kind of like a nether-dimension or something, right? You can't reach it unless you die?"

Elfangor nodded. That's right.

"That would explain the wire-like things in the air. They're very faint, but you can see them."

Tycoola was surprised. "How did you seem them? Only me and the other Farsights have been able to see them. Those are timelines."

"You're talking to the number one Bird-Boy," Marco laughed. "I guess even as a human you're still more like our feathered friends than anything."

Tobias ignored him, but I glared at Marco. "Shut-up, Marco." 

Elfangor looked at Tobias. Go on, Tobias. What's your theory?

"Well, back when I was being shipped back and forth between various aunts and uncles, I spend a lot of time on the computer. Every once in awhile I had to take mine apart because of technical problems. There were all these chips and wires and stuff. And I was just thinking: what if this place could work the same way. And what if someone let loose a virus – only it's not a bacterial virus. It's a computer virus." Tobias turned to look at the rest of us. "That would explain why everything's being destroyed. That's what a computer virus does – it eats the programming. And the rings and communities are the afterlife's programming."

We all looked at each other. I couldn't believe Tobias had been able to figure that out. And it sounded like it might be the solution. As Tobias sat down, Elfangor looked at him like, well, like a father might look at a son who had just taken his first steps. Then Elfangor looked at Devone and Arbron, who were discussing something quietly.

"I think Tobias has something there," Devone said a moment later. "Of course, we won't know for sure unless we find an eyewitness who saw this virus."

If it is a computer virus, Arbron said, it's one more powerful than anything we've ever seen before. It'll be hard to beat, especially after its destroyed so much stuff. It's not going to be easy to beat.

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That's the end of Number One. If this gets good reviews, I'll write #2. 

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My first attempt at an Animorph fanfiction. I'll accept comments, questions, rotten fruit, and flame throwers.


	2. Default Chapter Title

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The Elysia Wars #2 _A Cry for Help_

_Chapter One -- Nemu 505_

We have to move quickly, I reminded my host. We can't afford to be caught.

I am _going_ as fast as I can, my host snapped. I haven't gotten a whole lot of exercise in the past five years, you know.

We ran as fast as we could. When she slacked off, I seized control of her body and pushed her to her limit. 

I had had no choice but to leave the Yeerk Empire. Knowing what I did about the Neutro-Virus . . . and the things I did to try and prevent it -- I'd be labeled a traitor as soon as they discovered I was gone. I had to be long gone by then.

The only problem was, neither my host nor I knew where we were.

Are they coming? she asked me.

I turned my head to look over my shoulder. I don't see anyone on the ground.

What about the air?

I glanced up. There, hovering five hundred feet above the treetops, was a Bug fighter. Another one was about thirty feet away from the first, at the same altitude. Two Ten-One Level 1 Bug Scouts! I cried in horror. Spotlights beams down from the ships. They're searching for us!

Gee, you think? My host replied sarcastically.

Just keep running, I muttered, releasing control of body movements. I wanted to concentrate on loading as much information into my host's brain as possible.

There's something up ahead, she said. Some sort of -- 

Suddenly we pitched forward. The ground has jutted off into a ravine. I felt the ground disappear from beneath my feet. 

We fell.

_Chapter Two -- Tobias_

After dinner, the six of us split up. The houses in Elysia weren't very big. At any rate, they weren't big enough to house six visiting children. Rachel and Cassie were staying with Strike, Arbron offered to take in Marco and Jake, and Elfangor insisted Ax and I stay with him and Loren.

Maybe now I'd finally find out why Loren left me all those years ago. Or maybe I didn't want to know. 

Ax had gone to sleep early, but I wasn't tired enough to go to bed. Instead, I hung out on the back porch, thinking. 

"Hey."

I looked up from the wicker chair I was sitting in and saw Loren standing in the doorway. "Hi," I said.

"May I sit down?"

"Sure," I said indifferently. "I don't care."

She sat down on the porch swing across from me. "This must be pretty rough for you," she said. It was a statement, not a question. "I know it is for me."

I just looked at her. 

"Look," Loren said, "I know what I did goes beyond acceptable. I didn't want to leave you, Tobias -- you must know that. But if I had taken you with me, you're life would've been even more of a nightmare than it was."

I stood up and stared at her. "How would you know how bad my life was?" I managed to choke out. Then I started shouting. "You weren't around to see it! Stop making excuses, _Loren_. You just didn't want me around." Tears of anger stung the corners of my eyes, and I blinked furiously to keep them from falling.

"Tobias --" Loren started. 

"Shut up!" I snapped. "Just shut up and leave me the hell alone!" Not bothering to fight back the tears any longer, I swung open the back door and stormed into the house. Grabbing my coat on the way, I hurried to open the front door just as Elfangor came out of the kitchen.

Where are you going?

"None of your business," I shouted as I slammed the door shut behind me. I hurried around to the side of the house, and crouched down in the bushes. I felt the changes begin. First came the feathers. Then my arms melted into wings, and I was shrinking at the same time. The last thing that changed was my head, so for a minute I looked like a red-tail hawk with a human head. I briefly wondered if I could fly like that, then my beak pushed out of my lips, and I opened my wings to a blessed thermal.

In minutes I took to the skies.

_Chapter Three -- Elfangor_

I raced out to the back porch. Loren was sitting on the swing, her head in her hands. What happened? I asked, hurrying over to her. Why was Tobias shouting?

Loren looked up at me and tried to dry her eyes with the back of her hand. "I made the mistake of telling him that a life with me would've been worse than the life he actually lived." She swallowed hard. "He told me I had no idea how bad his life was, and that I should stop making excuses. He was right." She stood up and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my shoulder. "I never should've left him."

I ran my hand through her hair, then tipped her head so she was looking at me. There was something she wasn't telling me. I knew he had said something else, and that it had hurt her deeply. Normally, something like that wouldn't make her break down in tears -- she's a strong person, I know from experience. But I wouldn't press.

You did what you had to do, I said softly. Just like I did. You know that if you had taken him with you, he wouldn't have had a life at all. He just needs to know that, too."

"I just wanted him to trust me," Loren whispered. "Now I'm afraid he never will."

He will. He's just got years of hurt bottled up inside. But now we need to find him. Don't worry, I said. I gently placed my hand on her cheek, then turned back towards the house. AX!

He must have been listening at the window, because a second later he was outside. What? I heard someone shouting. What happened?

Loren and Tobias had an argument. He took off. We need to find him, and I figured you might know where Tobias would go.

Ax glanced at Loren, who was still leaning against me. What'd she do? he asked. 

I narrowed my main eyes and focused my stalk eyes on his. Don't even start, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, I said warningly. Just tell me where Tobias might have gone.

Ax's eyes widened. I had never, not once in my whole life, talked like that to me before. He had heard me use that tone of voice with my crew, but never with him. I suddenly realized that I sounded exactly like my father did when Ax had wandered off once while I was supposed to be watching him. My father had acted like it was my fault, even though I had done exactly what I was supposed to. I had been keeping an eye on the field while Ax played, while I finished going over the briefing reports from my crew's last mission. Somehow, he had slipped off.

Please, Ax, I said, softening my tone. Just tell me where my son might go.

Ax closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he said, He would've morphed. Bird, probably. He loves the sky. He could be anywhere, but usually on Earth he'd end up with Rachel or at the construction site. The site's not here, so I'm guessing Rachel.

"Rachel's staying with Strike," Loren said. 

I nodded. Ax, come with me just in case you're wrong. Loren, I want you to _stay here_. And that's an order. I started to turn back towards Ax when I noticed a smile creep across Loren's face. Please, just listen to me for once, I said. The smile disappeared. 

"Just bring him home," she said softly.

As Ax and I hurried around the side of the house to the main road, Ax looked at me. How upset did he seem when you saw him.

He didn't even try to hide him anger. He snapped at me.

Ax glanced up at the sky. If he was that upset, he shouldn't be flying. If he's not with Rachel, we might have to pull out an air search.

Why? I didn't have a whole lot of experience with flying as a bird.

There's a chance he might crash, Ax said softly. 

_Please be with Rachel, Tobias,_ I pleaded silently. 

__

Chapter Four -- Loren

I stared blankly at the sky for several minutes. Then, the strangest thing happened. It was as if I blacked out for a moment or something. Or fell asleep, because I must have been dreaming. 

I was floating. I don't know where I was floating, all I know is that I was not touching the ground. Way below me, I could see a deep chasm. Something was seriously wrong about the chasm. Wait, no, not the chasm itself -- more like something in the chasm. 

I could hear a slight echo of words, but it was distant -- strained. But it sounded almost like _help_. 

Then I woke up. 

I was shaking. Sweat was visibly pouring from my skin. "Oh, man," I muttered. "It came back."

See, a year ago, about a month before the virus started attacking the rings, I started having dreams. Premonitions. When my premonitions started coming true, Elfangor made me go see a Leeran named Cha-Nab. Leerans are psychic, and even though I was skeptical at first, Cha-Nab told me that what I was experiencing was a psychic vision. He didn't tell me whether or not I'd have the power permanently, and after awhile the visions stopped. 

Now they were back. 

_Elfangor told you to stay put_, I reminded myself. To which I countered, _Since when do I ever listen to Elfangor?_

With that in mind, I walked into the house, grabbed my keys, locked the back door, then proceeded to go to the front door. I had just put the key in the lock when an electrical shock went through me. It was pain, only I didn't feel it. It was like I was experiencing someone else's pain. 

_Tobias_, I realized. He was the last one who'd used that door.

I made it out to the street and looked both ways. I knew Elfangor had gone to Strike's house with Ax, but something told me that wasn't the way. "What was it Ax said?" I whispered. "Rachel or . . . or . . . construction site. Construction site." I bit my lip and closed my eyes. 

A suddenly picture popped in my mind. "Whoa, I working overtime tonight," I laughed. Then I focused on the picture. "The construction site!" Across the haven, we had been building a new cluster of buildings as a kind of recreation center, since more and more children were being born or brought into the community. When the virus had started attacking, we had quit building. Tobias would've seen the construction site earlier, because we had walked right past it on the way to the Council Circle. 

A little bit of wind picked up, and I couldn't help but glance towards the construction area. There were two little red dots moving in the sky. _That's strange. Those don't look like falling stars_. 

Then I knew where I had seen those lights before. "Bug fighters," I breathed. They were moving swiftly towards the construction area. If they had see Tobias morph . . . 

_Hello, Loren_. 

I spun around. Cha-Nab was standing behind me, looking like some sort of glorified frog. "Cha-Nab," I said. 

He nodded his huge head. _An enemy of yours is arriving._

So he had sensed the fighters, too. "Go find Elfangor. My son's missing -- he's right in the Bug fighters' path. Get Elfangor."

_I'm going. Go find Tobias._ He moved silently away. 

I started running towards the construction site.

_Chapter Five -- Rachel_

"No, I haven't seen him since dinner," I told Ax and Elfangor. "Is he okay?"

We're not sure, Elfangor said. He and Loren . . . argued, and he ran off.

"He hasn't been here," Cassie said, coming up behind Rachel, "but we'll help you look." Marco and Jake, who had come over as soon as they saw us (Arbron apparently lives next door to Strike), nodded. 

"Hey look!" Marco said. "It's one of those psychic frogs."

Sure enough, one of those Leeran things was moving silently towards us. 

_Prince Elfangor_, the Leeran said.

Hello, Cha-Nab, Elfangor said in greeting.

_Your wife has found Tobias._

Meaning she went looking for him herself, Elfangor sighed. I'm going to have to chain her to the bed next time I go out.

Cha-Nab didn't smiled. If Leerans _could_ smile. _She has also found Yeerk activity._

Jake stared at the Leeran. "Excuse me?" I was equally stunned. 

Cha-Nab's eyes glazed over. Then he blinked. _They're not interested in Elysia. The Bug fighters are searching for a traitor. Nemu 505. But if they see Tobias, they will land. They know his face and his name -- who he is. And they know he is not dead._

How are you getting this information, Cha-Nab? Elfangor demanded. 

_I am pulling it from Loren's mind. She has unconsciously pulled it from the Bug fighter superior. She has unknowingly received a distress call from the traitor._

"What, is Loren psychic or something?" I demanded. This was getting weird. 

Cha-Nab, Elfangor, Strike, and Arbron looked at me. _Yes._

Yes, Elfangor and Arbron said.

"Yesss," Strike replied. 

"Great," I muttered. "Is this talking reptile saying that Loren _and_ Tobias are in the path of an oncoming Bug fighter, and that the Bug fighter is searching? That means they'll seem them for sure."

Yes, Elfangor said. We must find them first.

"Easier said than done," Jake said. "It'll go quicker if some of us fly around. Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Ax -- you know what that means."

Marco nodded. "It's morphing time!" he exclaimed with incredibly fake enthusiasm. 

Jake, Ax, Cassie, and I groaned. "Just start morphing," I snapped, glaring at him. "This is no time to make jokes."

"This is a perfect time to make jokes," Marco said as he began to grow feathers. "We're about to morph birds so that we can go track down the Amazing Bird-Boy and his psychic mommy, who are unknowingly being tailed by two Bug fighters that also don't know it, while at the same time, a Yeerk named Nemo is sending out a bunch of distress calls from who-knows-where! Who wouldn't want to joke about something like this?"

"It's Nemu, you idiot," I said just as I crossed the boundary between talking and though-speaking. Not Nemo.

Whatever, Marco sneered. It's still an overgrown slug.

People? Jake asked, stretching his wings. Can you save this for later? We have to go _now_.

Let's do it! I yelled.

We're doomed. Marco groaned. 

__

Chapter Six -- Nemu 505

****

Are the Bug fighters gone? my host asked.

I glanced up at the sky. I don't see them. But it doesn't matter anyway -- we're trapped, remember? The best we can hope for is if someone answers our distress call.

Unless there's a psychic or two running around, it won't happen, she muttered. For all we know, we could be in the world's most deserted forest. That's what it feels like, anyway. I haven't seen an animal from Day One.

I know, I sighed. I was already weakening from lack of Kandrona rays. Laura, I have to tell you something.

What is it, Nemu?

I'm dying. In a day, tops, I'll be dead from lack of Kandrona. Right now I'm giving you as much information on the virus as possible. I want you to figure out some way to get this information to the communities once I'm gone, I said. I added another bit of information. 

You're not going to die, Laura said bitterly. 

I will, I said. There's no way around it. Even if someone did hear the distress call, they won't get here in time to save me.

But what am I supposed to do when you're gone? she demanded. My whole family is probably under Yeerk control by now -- and we're trapped in the world of the dead, for crying out loud!

Then maybe you'll find an Andalite or two, I said giddily. Hunger makes me hyper. 

Look, Laura, just promise me that you'll find a way to get that information to the good guys.

I promise, she whispered.

Good girl, I praised. 

_Please, someone, help_. 

_Chapter Seven -- Tobias_

I landed in the construction site and demorphed. 

"Well, you're not home, but you'll do," I whispered to the stone and steel. "Stop talking to yourself, Tobias." 

I leaned against a large slab of concrete and sighed. Only Ax knew that I go to the construction site where Elfangor died whenever I get upset. I had seen this one on our way in, and I hadn't wanted to bother Rachel. This wasn't something she could help with, anyway. She didn't know what it was like not to have a mother. I needed to be alone, anyway. 

While I sat, I tried to think about what my life had been like before Loren had left me. I was only three when she left -- about the only thing I remember from her is her hair, and the way she always smelled like cookies. She was always baking when she was alive. I smiled at the thought. Then I wondered briefly how she had died. My uncle had told me it was suicide, but that had never seemed right. 

"It was a car crash."

I turned and saw her standing a few feet away. "What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"I came to apologize," she said. "You've worried us all sick. Elfangor's probably got the whole haven out looking for you by now." Then she smiled. "And me, too."

I didn't' say anything. I couldn't believe she had followed me. 

"About a year after I left you with Karla, I was hit by a car. It was a hit and run -- they never found a driver. I found out from the Ellimist that it was a Yeerk driving the car. I knew in my heart that it was Visser Thirty-Two -- Visser Three to you. I once smacked him in the face with a big rock. He always hated me after that." She smiled at the memory. "Even though my memory of Elfangor was erased, my memory of the Visser wasn't. I guess the Ellimist wanted it that way. Once I died, I remembered your father and started keeping an eye on both of you. I do know how bad your life was -- from an observer's point. You were right in saying I didn't know how bad it was for you."

"Why?" I whispered. "Why did you leave?" 

"Your aunt was already petitioning to have you taken away from me," Loren answered. "She was claiming that I was incompetent as a parent. It wasn't easy, holding down a full-time job and being a single mother to a baby boy. She was my first husband's sister, and really didn't like me."

"Aunt Karla?" I replied. "I never did figure out why they took me away from her."

"Simple," she said. "There was no real proof that you were Thad's kid -- and as it turned out, you weren't -- so when they found my brother and his wife, they figured you'd be better off with them. Guess we know what happened there."

I nodded, not really wanting to talk about it out loud. "Hey -- how did you know I was hear, anyway?"

"Long story," she said. "Another reason everyone thought I was crazy -- turns out I'm psychic. I kind of forgot about the power when I alive, but it came back about a year ago, Elysia." Suddenly she gasped. "Bug fighters! I forgot about them. They're heading this way. If they see you, they'll shoot for sure. They know who you are."

"I thought Yeerks weren't aloud in Elysia," I said, standing up. 

"They're not dead," Loren replied. "They came here some other way. We have to go. You have to morph."

"You'll never get out it I do," I said. "If I die, I'll probably end up right back here. If you die, you'll lose your soul."

"Tobias, _don't_ --" 

Then Bug fighter that had sneaked around behind us fired.

__

Chapter Eight -- Jake

Any sign of them? I called up to Marco. 

Negative on that, sir, Marco said, imitating a military officer. 

I ignored him. Rachel? Cassie? Ax?

There's no sign of either Tobias or Loren, Prince Jake, Ax replied. 

If I could've, I would've rolled my eyes. Ax was getting a lot better with human expressions and stuff, but he still wouldn't drop the whole 'Prince Jake' deal. Sometimes, I wonder if now it's all a big joke with him. Like maybe he just does it to get on my nerves.

Rachel and Cassie also had so sighting. We were pretty spread out, but we were still within though-speak range of each other. 

Whoa, whoa, whoa! That was Marco, shouting loudly in my head.

Ow, I complained. What is it?

Bug fighter, coming up fast! There's a construction site directly in its path.

Prince Elfangor! I called down to the tiny figure on the ground. I hoped my thoughts would carry that far.

Yes, Jake? The words were very faint, but I could hear them. 

We've got a Bug fighter up here. Heading for the construction site. It looks like it's in a hurry. I could see the ship now, racing full speed. It passed us in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, owls have good reflexes, and I managed not to get caught in its wake. 

I thought there were two of them, Marco said. 

Jake, I can see the second Bug fighter, Cassie called. It hasn't changed course. Whatever they were looking for before, this one's still searching. It keeps making circles around the mountains.

Tobias and Loren wouldn't have made it that far, Rachel said. And the only reason for this one to peel away from the other is if it spots something. Do you think these can detect morphing ability?

They are a higher class than what we are used to, Ax replied. There's a good chance they might be able to.

_Jake!_ I see them. I _see_ them. Loren and Tobias, straight ahead. The Bug fighter's path goes right by them! Marco shouted frantically.

Elfangor, I called down again. We've found --

I was cut off as the Bug fighter fired once, twice. The lasers ripped through the construction site, sending up smoke and debris. I literally froze in mid-air, with only the wind currents to keep me up. When the smoke cleared, the fighter was gone. And there was no construction site.

Jake? Cassie whispered. Do -- can you -- where are they?

I can't see anything, Jake! Rachel cried. Too much dust in my way.

Jake? Marco asked. I don't see them.

No one could have survived that. 

Tobias and Loren had to be dead. 

__

Chapter Nine -- Nemu 505

What was _that_? Laura shouted as an explosion ripped through the ground. If we hadn't already been caught between rocks, we would've been knocked to the ground for sure. 

It sounded like photon lasers from the Bug Scouts, I whispered. 

Can anything survive a photon blast? 

Only unless tractor beams were used first, I answered. Suddenly a spasm of pain ripped through me. Aahhhh!

What? Laura asked frantically. What is it?

The fugue, I gasped. It's begun. I must be closer to my end than I thought. Laura . . . I can't exit your body during the fugue. I need to finish transmitting my information to you. Do you think you can survive the pain?

I'll try, Laura whispered. She had never experienced a fugue before. I had been her first and last Yeerk -- we'd been together five years. It was only this past year that we had become symbiotes -- partners -- against the Yeerk Empire.

I could feel my mind beginning to wander. Memories that I had forgotten about came rushing into my conscience. I remembered my first host, a simple Gedd. Just a few months later, I was given a Nahara, then a Hork-Bajir -- every time we conquered a new species, I was given a new host, and with it, a new rank. 

I became ruthless. So ruthless that the Council of Thirteen trusted me to begin to invasion of planet Earth. That was where they made their mistake. I grew attached to Laura, my host. I grew attached to her life, and to her family. When the Council ordered that I leave, I wasn't happy. I had come to love her family like they were my own. I decided never to become attached to anything again. Laura was confused in my change of attitude, and frightened. 

I saw my mistakes and my conquests, and I felt pain spasm after pain spasm. My life was literally flashing before my eyes. And all through it I continued to transmit information to my host. 

Are you okay, Nemu?

Just a few more hours. 

I began to transmit faster. 

__

And that's the end of #2. Did Tobias and Loren survive? Who is _the mysterious Nemu 505? Stay tuned to Elysia Wars #3: hopefully coming soon._

****


	3. Default Chapter Title

****

The Elysia Wars #3: _Among Enemies_

Chapter One -- Loren

"Get down!" I screamed, throwing myself at my son as the Bug fighter prepared to fire its lasers. We hit the ground just as the first laser tore through the land. Dust and debris blew up all around us. Shrapnel from the machinery just barely missed crushing or gouging Tobias, but I could feel a piece of something or other sliced into my leg. "Ah!" I gasped loudly.

I could hear the fighter preparing to fire again when the charges stopped. A split second later, a beam, like a spotlight, shone down on both of us. I suddenly felt the ground move away from me. Tobias was trying to sit up, but the Bug fighter had us caught in some sort of tractor beam. It was pulling us into the ship!

Once Tobias and I were in the ship, the fighter fired another round of lasers. Then, firing its thrusters, it accelerated away from Elysia. 

Tobias and I spend the better part of an hour in a big metal box. My leg was hurting something fierce, but I wouldn't let Tobias pull out the piece of shrapnel. It was all that was keeping me from bleeding. Tobias, actually, was surprised that I could bleed. However, as I explained to him there and as Elfangor had explained earlier, in Elysia the dead is as alive as the Animorphs. It's only when we venture out into the mortal world that we begin to fade into what people refer to as "ghosts" and "apparitions". 

"Where are we?" Tobias asked shakily.

"I think we might be in the holding bay of a Yeerk Bug fighter," I replied. "That's what pulled us in, anyway."

"I've been inside Bug fighters," Tobias said. "They're not this big."

"Maybe it's more technologically sophisticated than anything you've been in before," I suggested. "Anyway, how did you get inside a Bug fighter?"

Tobias tried to look smug. "Oh, it wasn't hard. I just dove straight through a hole in the roof of a grocery store, proceeded to get my tail almost shot off, then in a bold suicide attempt I killed my speed and almost went crashing into the wall of the inside of the stupid ship." Then his face completely lost the smug look. "At least, I think that's what happened. I have absolutely no memory of that. Jake told me all about it later -- he was the only one of us who knew anything about it."

"If you don't remember, how do you know it was true?" I pointed out.

"Jake doesn't lie," Tobias countered, "and besides, Ax has told us repeatedly that in a standard-class Bug fighter there's only room for one Hork-Bajir and one Taxxon pilot. And he's our resident expert on aliens."

Suddenly, the ship jolted, causing Tobias and me to hit the wall of our little box. My leg slammed into the wall, and I tried to restrain myself from cursing aloud. It didn't exactly work. "What the f*** happened?" I shouted. "Where the hell are we?" I proceeded to curse at whatever Yeerk was guarding the box. 

"Cut it out," Tobias hissed. "Do you hear that? It sounds like a Hork-Bajir."

Through the box, I could just hear the conversation. "Report, Carger 123."

"Yes, Visser Six. We have apparently caught ourselves an Andalite bandit. A _living _Andalite bandit. From the community the residents call Elysia."

"Elysia?" Visser Six asked sharply. "Carger, do you have any idea who resides his afterlife in Elysia?"

"No, Visser."

Visser Six laughed. It was an evil laugh. "Why, none other than the Andalite beast, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. I wish to see this Andalite immediately."

"One other thing, Visser."

"What is it, Carger 123? And make it quick. I'm a very busy person, after all."

"Well, Visser, is appears --" 

"Out with it, fool, I haven't got all day!" Visser Six snapped. 

Carger's voice was trembling. "The bandit, sir. The bandit is human."

I looked at Tobias. His eyes were huge, and his complexion was dead white. "Oh, shit," he whispered. "They know."

__

Chapter Two -- Rachel

I didn't want to look through the wrecked construction site. I didn't want to be there when they discovered Tobias' body. I wanted to be as far away from that place as possible. So while the others flew down to the still-smoking place, I flew back to Strike's house and entered the room I was staying in through an open window. 

I demorphed immediately, sat on the edge of the bed, and cried. 

Tobias was dead. He had to be. No one could've survived an attack like that and come out of it alive. We knew he was there. We knew Loren had gone after him. Marco had seen him. The attack -- I shook my head. I didn't want to think about it. 

It hurt too much. 

I love Tobias. Now he was gone. I hadn't even told him. I mean, sure, we'd gone a few dates, he even kissed me once, but I had never told him how much I really care for him. How much I love him. 

"_Loved_, Rachel, not love," I whispered. It was as if I had unconsciously accepted that he was gone. I knew he was. My brain, the thing forming the words I was thinking and saying, knew Tobias was dead. But my heart wouldn't let me believe it. 

Someone knocked on the door. "Go away," I said. I think I meant to shout it, but instead my voice came out in some sort of pathetic near-whisper. So I don't know if Cassie heard me or not. If she did, she ignored me. The door opened. 

"Hi," she said softy. She stood uncomfortably in the doorway. "I figured you'd be here."

"I want to be alone," I said. 

"We didn't find him," Cassie said. "Elfangor says -- he says that there was a slight pause between the laser blasts. He says that there's a chance -- a small chance, but a chance -- that Loren and Tobias might have been drawn up into the ship before it fired again. That the second shot was to cover their tracks."

I looked up and stared at Cassie. There was a chance that Tobias was alive? That he might have survived. "How small a chance?"

Cassie bit her lip. "According to Elfangor, it's a 20% chance of the tractor beam grabbing them in the five second window between the shots and getting them safely inside."

A 20% chance. But still a chance. I felt a new seed of hope begin to grow.

__

I'll find you, Tobias, I thought as Cassie went back downstairs. I glanced out the window. _If you're alive, I'll find you_.

__

Chapter Three -- Nemu 505 

I could feel the end.

Come on, Nemu, Laura pleaded. You have to stay alive. I can't get through this without your help. If they catch me, they'll see right through me!

Arrggh . . . you'll be all right, I promised her. You've been playing the part of a Yeerk for years -- you don't need me.

Yes I do, Laura snapped. I do need you. You're my only chance of getting home alive. You're the only on who knows how to save this place. There's no way I can finish what you've started.

Another spasm of pain ripped through me. You'll do fine, I said. You've been with me from the beginning of this. You can do this, Laura -- you're stronger than I ever was. It was you who managed to change me, remember? Not the other way around.

You got me out of there! Laura screamed. You said we were like Bonnie and Clyde, remember? We'd go down together or not at all!

Oh yes. I remember saying that. Back when we started out. Well, Bonnie -- looks like Clyde's in for early retirement. Don't forget about him, okay? He won't forget you.

I shuddered inwardly. I could feel my hold on her slipping away. Away . . .

Away . . . 

And then . . . 

__

Chapter Four -- Laura

I opened my eyes. 

__

I opened my eyes. 

I stared around the little in-between that I was trapped in, _on my own free will_. It been so long since I'd been able to do that, if you don't count the visits to the Yeerk pool every three days.

But if I could move around, that meant . . . my gaze fell on the ground. There, lying perfectly still, was a large slug, about the size of my thumb. "Oh, Nemu," I breathed. I reached to touch him, but suddenly he withered, and turned to dust. I had forgotten that happened once a Yeerk died. It was all part of their 'secret invasion'. They couldn't have people getting proof. 

For a moment, I just wanted to curl up in the little hole and cry until I died. My ankle throbbed with pain, and I had about a dozen cuts and bruises on my back and arms. There was a big cut on my forehead, from just under my hair to my temple. I hadn't eaten anything in about three days. 

"How am I supposed to do this, Nemu?" I whispered, like he was still there. "How? I don't have nearly enough strength."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and sniffed. "Wait a minute," I told myself. "You're Bonnie. You didn't earn that nickname by sitting around and having _Nemu_ do all the work. You're the one who rallied new recruits for the Yeerk Peace Movement. You helped free several hosts, even if it meant you couldn't have your own freedom."

I glanced up and realized just how high the rocks I was caught between were. It'd been a while since I'd gone rock-climbing. "Well, here goes nothing," I muttered. I pulled myself into a standing position, trying not to wince when I put some weight on my ankle, and felt along the wall until I found some toe and hand holds. "Don't worry, Clyde," I whispered, smiling. It was a humorless smile. "Bonnie's still going strong."

Then I began to climb towards a freedom I hadn't had for five years -- not since Nemu was forced to fake my own death so that we could leave Earth in the hands of Visser Three. 

__

Chapter Five -- Tobias

"Oh shit," I cursed. "They know."

"Know what?" Loren asked. 

"That my friends and I are human. Or, at least, they know _I'm _human. And if they get a good look at my face, they're going to know I'm Elfangor's kid. Then Visser Three is definitely going to put two and two together," I explained in a stage whisper. I didn't want to risk Visser Six or Carger overhearing me. "They don't know we're human -- they still think we're Andalite bandits, even after three years."

"Then I guess we better escape before they get Visser Three," Loren replied. As if escape was easy. There was no way -- wait a minute. I was the ultimate escape artist! Nothing can keep an Animorph locked up. 

"I could morph," I said. "But then they'd still you."

Loren shook her head. "I took a course in survival training and self defense. Several courses, actually. All you need to do is morph into something small - something that I can carry. Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest."

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Just morph," she ordered. 

I took a deep breath and started going over all the morphs I had required as a bird. It was strange to think of using my bird morphs when I was human. I wasn't used to my human body being my true form again, even if it was only for as long as I was in Elysia. 

Something small. But I still wanted to be able to see what was going on. "How do you feel about flies?" I whispered.

"What?" She was busy listening to another conversation between Visser Six and Carger, so she didn't entirely understand what I was saying. It didn't matter. I was already morphing.

Morphing is always unpredictable. It never happens in the same way. And unless you're name happens to be Cassie, it never happens in a pretty way, either. I was glad there wasn't a mirror around as large, gossamer wings began growing from my back. At the same time, my body began to hunch over, like I was the Hunchback of Notre Dame or something. My legs and arms began twisting and changing into fly legs. Extra fly legs came bursting out of my now abdomen. My head was perfectly normal by this time. "Lord, I must look like that guy from _The Fly_," I muttered to myself. Then my eyes bulged out, and my mouth mutated, and I suddenly found myself with the compound eyes of a fly.

I was a complete fly. Only problem? I was about the size of a Saint Bernard. And Loren chose that time to realize what I was doing.

Her eyes got very wide. I was afraid she was about to scream, but she was too shocked to do anything but stare. It's okay, I said reassuringly. It's just me. At that moment, I shrank. 

I hovered there for a few moments, then powered my little fly wings and latched onto the collar of Loren's shirt. I'm on! I said. Let's get moving.

"Someone's coming," I heard her say. I haven't had as much practice being a fly as the others, but I'd had enough to be able to make out fly hearing and human speech. The door slid open, and a huge shape entered, but I couldn't tell if it was human or Hork-Bajir.

It didn't' matter. Apparently, Loren could handle both.

__

Chapter Six -- Loren

It was a Hork-Bajir. 

A large Hork-Bajir. And in one swift movement, I grabbed a non-bladed area of his arm, pulled myself around, and side kicked him right in the eyes. He fell back (I let go of his arm before I lost my hand) and crashed into the figure behind him. From somewhere down the corridor, I could hear people running to try and figure out what the crash was. "We're out of here!" I said, darting over the fallen figures and running in the opposite direction of the feet. "And I have no clue where I'm gong."

Hang on, Tobias said. He lifted off my collar and started flying ahead of me. There are people coming! Two of them!

"Human or Hork-Bajir?" 

Human!

Then I saw them. Two full-grown men, one who looked like he never ate, the other like he ate ten full-course meals a day and all of it went to his muscles. 

I centered all my weight on my right. With a twist of my body, I brought my left leg around and caught both of them in the face with my foot. I landed easily, just as both of them went down.

It looks like this is still a small Bug fighter, Tobias said. The only Hork-Bajir that came is the one who you knocked out. I think that might have been Visser Six, which means we've got another one in the control room.

I suddenly had an idea. "Can you find the control room?" 

Probably.

"Get there. Try and get control of this ship. They'll probably stick it on auto-pilot if I make enough trouble here. Go!" I hissed as I saw another group of humans running towards us. 

You got it, Tobias said. He powered his wings and flew off just as I grabbed the wrist of a guy taking a swing at me and threw him over my shoulder. I always knew walked Walker, Texas Ranger would pay off someday.

"Hurry, Tobias," I muttered. 

__

Chapter Seven -- Laura

It took me the better part of two hours to climb out of that thing. With my ankle still screwed up, and my hands hurting, I knew I couldn't move very fast. I remembered Nemu sent out a cry for help for awhile, but I pretty sure someone wasn't going to answer. The call hadn't been too powerful, because he hadn't wanted any other Yeerks to hear it. 

It was times like these that I wished I could contact people telepathically. My grandmother used to say she could do that, and that she wasn't going to be the last in my family. When I was born, my mother says she said that I would bring the power into the world again. She said that when she was dying, too. She said she had seen it. 

But I never understood what she meant. _I_ certainly wasn't psychic. Funny, I've never really cared about that until now. Maybe because now I wanted to be. Then I'd have a chance of sending out a cry for help. 

Forcing myself to continue moving, I began to limp forward. I decided to follow the canyon for awhile, sticking close to the trees. The Bug fighters had shot at something that Nemu had said was about three miles away, North. I remembered flying over the area in a Yeerk ship, and I had seen the lights of something like a town in that approximate area. It was a community that Visser Six had called Elysia. 

Every once in awhile I glanced up to see if there was a Bug Scout looking for me. But no. The skies were clear. I hadn't seen a Scout since yesterday. Was it really the next day? One look at my watch, which had miraculously survived the fall, told me it was one o' clock in the morning. That meant people were going to be asleep. 

All the easier for me to sneak past the enemy. And until I found Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and delivered the information on the Neutro-Virus to him, _everyone_ was the enemy.

__

Can Laura make it to Elysia? Will Tobias find the control center? Can Loren really_ learn martial arts by recalling old episodes of Walker? Find out in the fourth part of The Elysia Wars; coming soon to a fanfiction near you. _


	4. Default Chapter Title

****

The Elysia Wars #4 _ Mindwarp_

__

Chapter One -- Cassie

"All right," Jake said, looking at the twelve of us. We were all gathered in the meeting room of the Core Base. Me, Marco, Rachel, Ax, Elfangor, Arbron, Strike, Srangi, Mat Hewk, Cha-Nab, Devone, and Tycoola. Jake made thirteen. Five of us were Animorphs, and the rest were part of the Elysia Core. There should've been two more: Loren and Tobias. 

They're empty seats were a reminder that they were still missing, and probably in the clutches of the Yeerks. 

Even in the afterlife, the Yeerks were still a deadly threat. 

Jake had taken command of the meeting, since Elfangor wasn't in very good condition to speak. He was there because we all were, but he was having a hard time dealing with the loss of his wife and son. 

"We know Loren and Tobias are missing," Jake went on. "We know there was a Yeerk ship in the area moments before the construction site blew up. We also know that there was no sign of Loren and Tobias after the initial attack, and that the Bug fighter disappeared quickly. Elfangor says there's a chance that Loren and Tobias might have been pulled into that ship.

"What we don't know is if that's what happened, and that's what we need to find out. There are thirteen of us. If we work together, we might have a chance at this." Jake looked around at all of us. "I don't think I need to remind anyone of the other danger that's coming closer to this community every minute: the computer virus that has been swiftly destroying the entire afterlife."

"Do you think the Yeerks have something to do with that?" I asked.

Arbron focused his stalk eyes on me. There's a good possibility of that, he said, but I doubt if they're doing it all on their own.

"What do you mean?" Rachel demanded. 

I think it's possible that the Yeerks might have created the virus, but in order for it, not to mention them, to get here they'd need a lot of help. From someone with lots of power. Arbron glanced at us pointedly. There are only two known beings with that much power. One is the Ellimist.

"And the other?" Jake asked, even though I could see that he had already come to same conclusion Arbron and the rest of us had. He just didn't want to say it.

Crayak, Elfangor spat out with disgust. It makes sense. Crayak would naturally want us in his wastelands, where he can use our souls for evil. And of course, the Yeerks don't want there to be any chance of Loren, or Arbron, or myself, or anyone else here for that matter, coming back to life.

No offense, Ax said, but if you were defeated before, you could be defeated again. Why are they afraid of you coming to life again?

It was Cha-Nab, the Leeran and resident psychic, who answered him. _None of us died fairly. Elfangor was murdered. Strike was burned for a crime she didn't commit. Mat Hewk used to be a Controller: he had no control over his death. Loren was hit by a car. I was poisoned. In combat, no one would stand a very good chance against any of us. The Yeerks know that._

"What we need is someone who knows something about this virus," Devone said in his calm voice. "Someone with inside information. But we don't have anyone like that."

Suddenly, Marco stood up and gripped the table. Since he was right next to me, I got a pretty good look at his face. His eyes were completely glazed over. He was shaking, and he didn't seem to notice any of us. Then his eyes refocused.

"Mom," he whispered hoarsely.

He collapsed. 

__

Chapter Two -- Marco

I was in a forest. I was surrounded by trees. I was alone. No, wait, not alone. There was a figure near me. A familiar figure, but I couldn't make out her/his features. Then the forest exploded. Huge tentacles started tearing up the ground. A shimmering void was behind the tentacles. 

The figure looked at me. "I can help you." She/he turned around. I looked at his/her face. 

I knew that face . . . 

"Mom!" I shouted out loud. When I opened my eyes, I felt like someone had just dropped a fifty-pound weight on my head. Everyone was crowded around me. Where was I? Oh, yeah. I was in Elysia with my friends -- the Animorphs. 

"Marco, are you okay?" That was Jake. My best friend. He sounded worried.

"What happened?" I groaned, trying to sit up. Tycoola and Rachel helped me into a sitting position.

__

You collapsed, the Leeran, Cha-Nab said. 

"You were talking about your mother," Jake replied. 

I nodded. "I guess I had a dream or something. I was in a forest. There were these strange tentacles, like an octopus or a squid. They were tearing up the place. And my mother was there. She was saying something -- I couldn't make out what."

Cha-Nab looked at me. _Tell me, Marco, does this happen often?_

"Huh?" 

__

How often do you collapse during this?

"During what?" I asked. "I dreamed. That's all. Usually I'm already asleep when I'm dreaming, so no, I don't usually collapse."

Elfangor looked at Cha-Nab. He wasn't dreaming, was he?

"Huh?" Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Ax, me, and just about everyone else in the room said. Except for Cha-Nab, of course.

__

No, I don't believe he did, Cha-Nab replied. _Marco, tell me: did you feel like you were actually there? In the forest?_

I wasn't sure what the correct answer to that was. Was he about to tell me I was going crazy? "Um, yeah," I muttered. 

__

Then that confirms it. A normal dream would not seem completely real. He looked at me. _Marco, you weren't dreaming. You were having an astrological trance._

"And in English that means . . . what?" Jake asked.

Elfangor answered that. It means, Marco, that you're psychic.

__

Chapter Three -- Tobias

Flies are fast little bugs. Not as fast as hawks, of course, but have you ever tried to swat one? Almost impossible, right? But still, no matter how fast flies are, a fly still doesn't have any hands that are ale to a door. So I wound up having to demorph and remorph a couple times before I finally found the control room.

I'd just opened about the fifth door when I hit paydirt. "Bingo," I muttered.

It was definitely the control room of the Bug fighter. I could see out over the forest, and in the distance were the lights of Elysia. There were a whole bunch of different controls on the panels, and I suddenly realized something that both Loren and I had overlooked.

I had _no clue_ how to fly an alien ship.

"Stupid," I muttered. I'd taken it for granted that, just because Yeerks use human hosts, they'd have human controls. But I'd forgotten that they use Hork-Bajir and Taxxons to control the fighters. "They have they're own language, too," I reminded myself.

Suddenly I froze. My mind was racing around at top speed. _Two pilots. One Hork-Bajir. One Taxxon._

Empty control room. 

"Where the hell are the pilots?" I whispered. 

Something hit the wall behind me. I froze and listened closely. I heard nothing else.

I turned around. 

Something connected with my jaw. I stumbled backwards, hit the Hork-Bajir's chair, and fell to the ground. I wasn't that badly hurt -- I think I might have been able to get up if I really had to. Then I smelled a sickly sweet oily smell. Someone behind me shoved a rag against my nose and mouth, and . . . 

__

Chapter Four -- Marco

I was sitting on a small couch in one corner of the meeting room, staring at Cha-Nab as he explained about my so-called 'psychic' abilities. I was still partly into shock, so I wasn't entirely understanding everything this frog was telling me. "Is it permanent?" I asked once he'd finished the initial explanation.

Cha-Nab thought for a minute. _Yes_, he said finally. _Now, there might be periods of time when you think the power is gone, but in truth it isn't. Don't expect you to be able to know everything that goes on. For instance, you won't know the answers to your tests or anything like that. The power will manifest only when there is absolute danger._

"Then why did I just dream . . . excuse me, _envision_ my mother?" I asked. "My mother is a Controller. Visser One. Or, at least, she _was_ Visser One -- last I heard, she got demoted."

Elfangor turned a stalk eye in my direction and interrupted his conversation between him and Jake. Remember that traitor Cha-Nab mentioned earlier? Nemu 505? He was formally known as Visser One until his battle for power against Visser Three landed him in big trouble. No one's really heard from him since.

Srangi suddenly looked up. "Hey, hey, hey!" he said. "If no one's heard from Nemu character, and it's the same Nemu that they're talking about -- Nemu 505 has been missing from the Yeerk Empire for about four days."

"Sssso?" Strike said. "That meanssss what?"

It was Jake, not Srangi, who answered. "Yeerks have to go back to the Yeerk Pool every three days to soak up Kandrona nutrients. Even if Nemu went right before he left, he'd still be over the limit."

And if this Nemu is the same one that was once Visser One, than that means that . . . Arbron stopped for a minute. What does that mean?

"It means my mom might be alive and free!" I cried.

__

Yes, Cha-Nab said. _And if we go according to Marco's vision, then his mother could perhaps be the missing link that we are looking for. Nemu 505 knew something that the Yeerks didn't want him to know -- he could've left it with his host after he died. And if Marco's vision is correct, it has something to do with the virus._

"Everything comes down to the virus," Cassie sighed. "We don't even know what it looks like. Besides, what if what Nemu knew had nothing to do with the virus? We're wasting time here. We need to find Tobias and Loren."

That was surprising. Usually Cassie isn't so pessimistic. "Hey, Cassie, you're starting to sound like me," I said. "That's not right. I'm the one who's supposed to groan and complain about something."

Ax looked at all of us. I don't feel very comfortable following a vision on a hunch. We have no idea where to begin searching for Marco's mother. You know, Prince Jake, that I don't believe in anything being psychic. I agree with Cassie -- this would be a waste of time.

I stood up. "Look, this isn't your decision. This is mine. I'm going to find my mother. According to Cha-Nab here, I'm psychic. My great-grandmother claimed she had a 'mind's eye', too, and she was the most sane person on the planet. Now you can choose to go with me or not, but I am _going_ go find my mother. If there's a chance she could help us, then we should take that chance."

"Marco's right." That came from a surprising source -- Rachel. "Besides, Tobias and Loren don't need all of us to find them. We can split up."

I gave Rachel a grateful smile. There aren't many things that she and I agree on, so it's a miracle when we do. 

Jake and Elfangor looked at each other. Then they nodded. Okay, Elfangor said. We split up. There are thirteen of us -- one group takes seven, the other takes six. I think the smaller group should go with Marco. We'll split up our strengths and weaknesses evenly.

"So who goes with who?" Mat Hewk asked. I'd started to realize he was one of those Hork-Bajir called a seer. We knew one on Earth. 

Cha-Nab, Devone, Srangi, Rachel, and I go with Marco, Elfangor said. That leaves Jake, Cassie, Ax, Arbron, Strike, Mat, and Tycoola to go after Tobias and Loren.

"Anyone have any problems with that?" Jake asked.

No one said anything. 

All right, Elfangor said. Let's --

"Hold it!" I said, holding up my hands. "This isn't your part, Elfangor. Rachel?"

She grinned. "Let's do it!" she shouted in her insane-maniac-warrior-princess way. 

Elfangor and everyone laughed. Okay, _now_ let's go.

__

Chapter Five -- Jake

We had to get more stuff together, so we left after the search team did. "Okay," I said. "We need to do this quickly. First, we need to figure out which way the Bug fighter went."

Tycoola scanned the sky. "If I can get some altitude," she said, "I could probably get a lock on their location."

"Go for it," I said. Tycoola spread her thirty-foot wingspan, flapped a couple of times, then rose off the ground and began power-flapping. I watched, amazed for a moment. Then I shook my head. 

"Jake?" Cassie asked. "Once Tycoola finds the fighter, how are we supposed to get to it?"

That stopped me for a minute. I looked at everyone. Tycoola could fly on her own. Cassie, Ax, and I could morph. But then we had an Andalite, a serpent, and a Hork-Bajir. How were they going to get there?

Arbron solved that real quick. I have a _kafit_ morph, he said. I haven't used it in a while, but it shouldn't be too hard. Tycoola's strong enough to carry a Hork-Bajir on her back, and she can carry Strike by using her talons.

Tycoola suddenly landed. "Found them."

"You're kidding," I said. "You found them? Are you sure it's the right ship?"

She ruffled her feathers. "Am I sure? There were two of them scanning the ground. One of them has used its laser recently. Besides, I saw Loren and Tobias through a window."

Ax looked at me. Tobias' eyes aren't even that good.

"How far were they?"

Tycoola thought for a moment. "About five miles away. They're staying in the same approximate area, so if we move now, we should be able to reach them in about 30 minutes."

Arbron quickly told her what we'd decided. "Let's morph," I said. I closed my eyes and once again focused on the owl. Dawn was still about an hour away, and there weren't any thermals over the forest. Cassie and Ax were morphing as fast as they could -- which, for Cassie, means she got to watch the rest of us turn in Frankenstein's creations. 

Arbron had a little more trouble than the rest of us, since he hadn't morphed in a while. Ready, he said. Ax and Cassie echoed him. 

I looked over at Tycoola. You guys ready?

"Hold on," Strike said. 

She slid her tail through the handle of our equipment bag. Then, by biting her own tail, she formed herself into an 'O'. Mat had already mounted Tycoola, who flapped to get up off the ground. Once she was about ten feet up, she swooped down and closed her talons around Strike. "Coming?" she asked as she flapped in place.

Arbron, Ax, Cassie, and I had to work to get some altitude, but eventually we made it up as high as them. You've done this before, haven't you?" Cassie said with a grin in her voice.

"Plenty of timessss!" Strike hissed. 

"Come on," Tycoola said. "The fighter's this way." 

__

Chapter Six -- Tobias

"Ungh," I groaned. My jaw was throbbing with pain. "What happened?"

Loren was kneeling over me. "You were knocked out. So was I, and I think they used chloroform."

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're still in the control room," she said. "See that Hork-Bajir over there? The one wearing the purple uniform? That's Visser Six."

"That's Visser Six?" I breathed. Visser Six had to be almost eight feet tall. "You knocked him unconscious!" 

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently I didn't knock him enough. I stunned him, that's all. He woke up in time to knock me out. Then they found you."

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

Loren shrugged. "I heard something about how they had to find the traitor before they returned to home base. Or the traitor's host, since the Yeerk should be dead by now. Apparently this traitor has some information they don't want getting out into the public."

"This gives the others extra time to find us," I said.

"We've been missing for almost five hours," Loren replied. "I hope they're still searching for us."

"Rachel won't give up," I muttered. "Neither would the others. Marco would complain, but he'd still come. So would Cassie, Jake, and Ax."

"You're very loyal to your friends," Loren said. It was a statement, not a question.

"They're the only ones I've ever had," I sighed.

Suddenly Visser Six spun around. "Would you two shut-up?" he snapped. "I'm -- what?" A Taxxon had come over to him and started talking. "An unidentified flying object? Coming this way? Screen on." 

A big screen flashed before us. "I don't see anything," Visser Six muttered.

Something flashed across the screen, but it was moving too fast to be seen. 

Then . . .

__

Kerracck!

__

Chapter Seven -- Loren

The cry came sudden and unexpected. Something slammed into the side of the ship. Then something else hit the other side. Whatever it was, it was trying to get the ship to land. 

"Side screen!" Visser Six screamed. 

The side screen popped on. A figure took shape. It was clutching the side of the ship with huge talons, and its six wings were beating on the ship rapidly. He was drilling his beak into the metal exo-frame. I recognized him immediately.

"Arbron!" I laughed. "It's Arbron!" 

"How do you know?" Tobias asked. "It could be Elfangor."

I shook my head. "Elfangor's kafit bird morph has a brown streak down one wing. This one is pure white. It's Arbron, all right."

The other side screen blinked on. "That's Tycoola," Tobias said. "They did come."

Some of the Controllers were panicking. Visser Six glared at them. "They can't get inside the ship by drilling through with their beaks. So long as they don't -- what the? How did a hole get in the docking bay?"

__

TSEW! 

A laser beam cut through the air and sliced through one of the control panels. Tobias and I, as well as everyone else, turned to look at the control room entrance. 

"Hey, Tobias!" Jake said. "Could you use a lift out of here?" He was the one who had shot through the controls."

Tobias grinned. "You bet," he said. 

Strike slithered over and bit through the ropes that tied us. 

The ship suddenly started to tilt downward. We were all thrown off our feet and onto the floor. "What's happening?" Jake shouted.

Visser Six was frantic. "You destroyed the controls," he snapped. "This fighter's going down! And we've lost the other one's signal."

"Ax, tell Arbron and Tycoola to pull back," Jake commanded. "We can't risk all of us."

I could see the trees rushing up to meet us as we fell through the sky. One side of the ship lessened with weight, and the ship began to roll. Then the other side lessened, and it straightened out. "Everybody shield yourselves!" I shouted. 

We hit.

__

Chapter Eight -- _Srangi_

Any sign of her? Elfangor called up.

"None," I said, spreading my wings and gliding down from the tree that I had been perched on top of. "The forest is clear."

I landed next to Marco, who was standing in the middle of the clearing. "This was the place, I'm sure of it," he muttered. 

"Maybe what you saw was an image of the future, so she hasn't been here yet, or the past, and she's already left," I suggested.

He didn't experience the vision that long ago, Elfangor argued. And Loren always had visions of things that happened within a few minutes.

__

Marco is technically more superior with his powers than Loren, Cha-Nab interrupted. _He has more strength._

"How does that work?" Rachel demanded. "Loren's had her powers since she was alive."

__

Yes, but Loren's powers were chance. Marco's is inherited. From his great-grandmother. Thus, making him more powerful. If he ever reaches his full potential. Cha-Nab smiled his Leeran smile, which basically consists of his upper lip curling under, and his lower lip curling out. It's strange to watch, and I could tell Marco and Rachel were both startled. When they didn't comment, I figured Elfangor had spoken to them. 

"Cha-Nab," Devone said, coming up behind us. "Do you think that if you and Marco combined your abilities, you might be able to get a better fix on his mother?"

__

It's worth a try. He walked over to Marco and put on of his hands on his arm. _You will feel a little light, Marco. It's natural. Just close your eyes and concentrate on the image of your mother in your previous vision._

"Could you be quiet long enough for me to do it?" he murmured, but he didn't even seem completely aware that he had spoken. His eyes were already beginning to close. 

Cha-Nab and Marco were in the trance for about seven minutes, according to Elfangor and Rachel, who was wearing a watch. (Actually, Elfangor said six and Rachel said eight -- we ended up choosing seven just to shut both of them up.)

Anyway, when they finally snapped out of it, Marco seemed a little stressed. "She's here," he said. "She can here us. Or, actually, she can here Elfangor. By the way, man, you better tone down the thoughts. We could hear you and Rachel arguing. I think my mom might be afraid you're, like, Visser Three or somebody."

Visser Three? Elfangor repeated incredulously. How could anyone mistake me for Visser Three?

"Actually, Ax can do a pretty good imitation of him," Rachel mused. "I wonder where he learned it from?" We were awarded with a slight blush in Elfangor's fur. "Thought so," she said impishly.

"Did you get a coordinate on her?" I asked.

"She about three miles north," Marco answered. Cha-Nab didn't say anything. 

I extended my wings and started to take off when Marco climbed on my back. "What are you doing?" I squawked.

"I'm not letting you go after yourself," he said. "She might run if she sees you -- if she sees me we'll have a chance of talking to her."

Will you two go already? Elfangor snapped. 

"No wonder he gets mistaken for the Visser sometimes," I muttered as we rose in altitude.

Marco laughed. "You've never met Visser Three, have you?"

"Thank the Ellimist, no," I said with relief.

"He's a lot worse than Elfangor could ever be," Marco said, no longer laughing. "Let's hope you _never_ meet him."

__

Chapter Nine -- Laura

I leaned against the tree, trying not to make as much noise. I could hear the sounds of the Andalite yelling. I had no idea where he was. I couldn't catch all of his words, only those that he shouted, but he reminded me too much of Visser Three. And I could tell from his words that he was looking for me. I wasn't taking chances.

My ankle had given out about an hour earlier, so I had been sitting in that little clearing thinking about what Nemu had left me. I was surprised that I had made it as far as I had. "I must have walked ten miles on a busted ankle," I sighed. "That's gotta be a record or something."

Suddenly, a shadow fell over my little clearing. A chill ran up my spine, and I tried to press myself against the trunk of the tree. It didn't work. I wasn't going anywhere. So I sat there, watching as something drifted down from the sky.

"This is the place," a voice said. "Three miles north."

I looked at the creature. If I hadn't been so scared, I think I would've been amazed. "A dragon," I breathed. "A real live dragon. Well, a real dead dragon, at least."

"I don't see anyone," the dragon said.

Something jumped off its back. "She has to be here, Srangi. I just know it."

"Are you sure you and Cha-Nab got the coordinates right?"

"Cha-Nab didn't get anything," the passenger replied. "He blanked out about three minutes into the trance. I think his mind drifted to something else. But yeah, I'm sure this is the right place."

My mind was whirling. Srangi and Cha-Nab weren't Yeerk names. Maybe these people were from the community that Nemu had said was near-by.

The two of them started moving leaves around. I was almost shaking. In moments they would be moving the bush that partly concealed me. 

"Are you sure you flew us to the right place?" 

The dragon snorted. I saw little trails of smoke curl out of his nostrils. "Yes, I'm sure. I have an excellent sense of direction."

The passenger -- he sounded human -- sighed. "Yeah, right," he muttered. Then he straightened up. "Time for Plan B."

"Elfangor didn't say anything about Plan B," the dragon said. 

"I did." He took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey! Is anyone out there! Laura? Hey, Laura!"

I wasn't about to answer. Then his next words stopped me cold.

"Mom, it's me! It's me, Marco!"

Marco.

My son.

__

Chapter Ten -- Marco

"Mom, it's me! It's me, Marco!" I shouted into the forest. At the same time I was thinking, _If there are any Yeerks out there, Srangi and I are dead meat._

"I don't think she heard you," Srangi said. 

I got ready to yell again when I heard the sound of leaves being parted. "Marco?" a tentative voice ventured.

I spun around. There, leaning up against a tree that had been partly hidden by a large bush, was my mother.

For a moment, I just stared. It had been so long since I'd last seen her. I mean, really seen her. Not as a Controller, but as her. Sure, she had aged. But she was still beautiful. Her dark, curly hair framed her face, her olive skin a perfect compliment to her black eyes. 

I couldn't stop myself. I ran over to her and hugged her. "Mom," I murmured into her hair. Then I pulled back. "Is it really you?" 

She nodded. "Nemu died awhile ago. I've been walking ever since then."

Then I noticed her ankle. "You're hurt," I said. 

"The initial fall wasn't bad, but I think I made it worse by walking on it," she said, shifting her position. She looked at me. "What about you? I thought you were . . . I thought you were a Controller."

"You're assuming I know about Yeerks," I said. "Which I obviously do."

She laughed. "I guess I am. So?"

"Long story," I said. "Let's get you on Srangi and back to the others. Then I promise I'll explain everything."

Suddenly Elfangor came crashing through the bushes. What I wouldn't give for wings, he muttered. Srangi! Marco!

Mom started to shake. "It's Elfangor, Mom," I said reassuring. "Prince Elfangor."

"The Andalite?" she breathed.

I nodded. "What is it?" I called over to him.

Emergency, he said. I noticed his fur was pale than usual, and that he seemed upset about something. Jake and the others found Loren and Tobias. They even managed to get on the Bug fighter with them.

"But?" Srangi asked. I was glad he did. I knew there was a but.

According to Cha-Nab, who got a message from Loren, the ship's computer blew. They were crashing.

"Were crashing?" I repeated.

Suddenly a huge tremor shook the ground. Seconds later, a gigantic explosion rocked Elysia and the forest. A huge fireball rose up from the ground. "I'd say they just crashed," Mom whispered. 


	5. Default Chapter Title

****

The Elysia Wars #5 _Survival of the Fittest : Part 1_

Chapter One -- Jake

I blinked. Even that little motion hurt like hell. I felt like my skin was on fire. I tried to suck in a breath of air, but instead got a lung full of smoke. "Ecch!" I choked. I began coughing crazily. I had to clear my lungs! Had to . . . I needed air! I needed to breathe . . . 

"Jake, wake up."

I opened my eyes. It hadn't hurt as much as the last time. "What happened?" I murmured. Then it all came back to me -- the laser cutting through the controls, the ship beginning to nose-dive, the crash, the explosion -- I noticed Loren looking down at me, concern on her face. "Are we alive?"

She nodded. "As alive as we can be. The Yeerks are all dead, even Visser Six. You're secret's safe for now."

"How did we get out of the ship?" I asked, struggling to sit up. "I thought for sure we were dead."

"Tycoola and Arbron came back for us," I heard Tobias say from behind me. "Managed to pull us all out just before the wreckage blew up."

"I've been trying to reach Cha-Nab for hours, but I can't get through," Loren added. "But, we're all in one piece, none of us have crossed over -- that's good, I guess." 

I looked around at our surroundings for the first time. Everyone was there. I could see Tycoola and Mat, Strike, Arbron in his natural shape, there was Ax standing on three legs while favoring the fourth, and . . . "Where's Cassie?" I asked when I didn't see her. I knew my voice was trembling. 

"Right here, Jake," she said from behind me.

I spun around as well as I could without falling flat on my face. A searing pain ripped through my spine, but I ignored it. And there she was. Kneeling on the ground just a few feet away.

I couldn't stop myself. I just crawled over to her, threw my arms around her, and kissed her from pure relief. When we broke apart a minute later, I just cried into her shoulder. I don't know why I did. I just felt like I needed to cry. 

"Shh, Jake, we're all okay," she said, holding me. "Come on, pull yourself together. We need you."

I took a few deep breaths and nodded. Pulling away from her, I looked over at Loren. She didn't seem to be hurt at all. "How did you manage not to be injured?"

"I projected an astral plane around the nine of us," she said. "It saved me from any injury, and protected you. If I hadn't done it, we would've all been dead."

"Where are we?" I wondered. From what I could tell, we were inside a cave. There weren't a lot of trees near it, so I could see the smoke coming from the wreckage. "And how did we get here?"

"Tycoola and Arbron flew us all here. It was as far as they could get us before the ship blew. Both of them were hit by shrapnel," Tobias said. "As for injuries, Cassie's the one who's been messing with that."

"I haven't had a chance to really look," she added, still holding my hand. "I just checked to see if everyone was alive. I figured that the most important part right now."

I nodded. "It was. Now we need to see who can walk out of here, and who needs help. Because we need to get back to Elysia."

"Since there's no way of telling where we are, we could be very far from Elysia. I do know we flew over at least one ravine, which divides each ring into territories and communities, so there's a chance we might not even be in Elysia," Loren said. 

"Doesn't matter," Tobias said. "We have to get there. Do you think they saw the explosion?"

Definitely, Arbron said. You were all unconscious, but Tycoola and I saw the explosion. It was huge. I bet half the ring saw it.

I sighed. "I don't really care if they saw it or not. What I care about right now is who needs help and who can make it on their own, at least for a little while. Because I have a feeling we have a _very_ long way to go."

__

Chapter Two -- Cassie

Loren had no injuries, so she helped me check over everyone. I wanted to start with Jake, but he insisted on him last. He wasn't critical. 

I was kneeling beside Tobias, who was holding his arm gingerly to his chest. "Well, doc, what's the verdict?" he asked, grinning. I pressed him gently on the elbow, and he winced.

"Nothing much," I replied. "I think you just have a dislocated elbow and a cracked shoulder. We'll have to keep your arm in a sling for now. Your mother will get you one."

"My mother," Tobias muttered. "You know, Cassie, I don't feel too comfortable referring to her that way. Not yet. So . . . ?"

I smiled. "_Loren_ will get you one."

"Thanks," he said, smiling a little. Then he turned to Loren, who was tearing up shirts and stuff to make bandages. 

Arbron was perfectly fine, since he'd been hit in morph and had since then morphed out. He was keeping Ax company while I checked his leg. "Ax, can you move it at all?"

He started to raise his leg up off the ground. Ahhh! he cried out in pain. Oh, it hurts it hurts it _hurts!_ Damn, it hurts!

"It must really be hurting," I muttered to Arbron, "if he's cussing." Then I turned back to Ax. "Okay. You obviously did something to that leg, but without an X-ray, I can't help you. So what I'm going to do right now is have you use this big stick as a cane." I handed him a stick that was lying on the cave floor. "It's sturdy enough, and it'll act just like a fourth leg. Arbron, help him over to Loren. I want that leg bandaged as well as possible." He nodded and started leading a hobbling Ax over to where Loren was sitting. 

Tycoola had been hit by a piece of shrapnel. "Broken wing," I reported. I could tell immediately from the way her wing bent back at a very awkward angle. "Loren or Arbron, hand me some bandages."

Arbron obliged. I grabbed a very thick branch off the ground and handed it to Tycoola. "Stick that in your mouth and bite down hard," I ordered. "This is going to hurt. I'm going to pop your bone back in place, then tie this bandaged around your wing and slip it under your arm. Got it?" She nodded. "On the count of three. One," I pushed the bone back in place suddenly. Tycoola bit right through the stick and still ended up screeching in pain. 

"You said _three!_" she exclaimed accusingly.

"Yeah, and you would've tensed up on three," I replied as I tied the strip of fabric in place. "This'll be uncomfortable for awhile, but at least your wing won't heal crookedly. 

Strike was waiting patiently for her turn. I ran my hand along the long cut that ran along her side. "Superficial," I said. "Nothing's broken, and there's no infection. Report to Loren to dress that wound."

"Cassie!" Jake shouted from across the cave where he was sitting next to Mat Hewk. "Is this normal?"

I hurried over. Mat was lying flat on his back. I realized immediately what Jake was referring to. Mat's eyes were fluttering open and shut, and every time he took a breath, I could hear a faint gurgling in the back of his throat. "Mat?" I called. I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him lightly. "Mat Hewk, can you hear me? It's Cassie."

Suddenly he began to shake. "Arbron, Loren, get over here and help me!" I yelled. They raced over. "Hold him down," I ordered.

"Cassie, what's happening?" Jake asked, his voice shaking. "What's wrong with him?"

I didn't answer him. "He can't breathe," I said. "There's blood or saliva or something collecting in his throat, and he can't breathe. Quick, I need something sharp. Like a knife or something."

Fortunately, Jake had his Swiss Army knife in his back pocket. He quickly handed it to me. Taking a deep breath and reminding myself that I'd done it several times, I proceeded to cut open a small hole in where I hoped was Mat's windpipe. "Somebody bring me a tube," I shouted. "A straw or something."

"How about a piece of hose?" Tobias asked. "There's one attached to this laser over here."

I just handed out my hand.

The hose was just big enough to fit inside the hole I had made. I needed to keep it open. Then, using a few bandages, I wrapped it around the rest of his neck so I could stop the breathing. The gurgling stopped, and he stopped shaking. But he was still unconscious.

I sank back and took a few more deep breaths. Is he going to be all right? Arbron asked with concern.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I've never performed a tracheotomy on a Hork-Bajir before. I was going on instinct. It'll be touch and go, especially if he doesn't wake up."

"And if he doessss?" Strike asked. 

I sighed. "I'd give him a 50-50 chance of survival if he wakes up. More is we can get him to a decent hospital, less if he stays unconscious."

"But we can't move him," Jake said. "None of us are strong enough, and he's in a precarious balance right now."

"So we're stuck here until Mat decides what he wants to do," Tycoola sighed. 

__

Decide to live, Mat, I pleaded silently. _Please don't make us leave anyone behind._

Chapter Three -- Strike

Cassie said my scratch was superficial. I was glad about this, and I trusted her a lot. For a human, she's not bad. 

Mat Hewk's in worse shape than anyone else, even though very few people are walking around without injury. Jake hurt his back, so he won't be doing much but walking, and even Cassie hurt her wrist. Other than that, thanks to Loren's powers, we're all okay. Except for Mat. 

We were all taking turns keeping an eye on him, and it was Arbron's turn for watch when Jake decided to call together a meeting. Even Loren is usually Elfangor's second-in-command, everyone was looking towards Jake for this mission. Even Loren. "We need to figure out what to do," Jake said once we were all assembled, more or less. 

"We need to find the nearessst community," I pointed out. "Mat needsss a doctor."

Jake nodded. "Arbron." Arbron looked up. "You said that you could tell from the trees what kind of community this is. Can you estimate what we've got here?"

Arbron got up from where he was keeping an eye on Mat and slipped outside of the cave. A minute later he slipped back in. A lot of the trees are burned from the wreck, he reported, but a handful are still intact. I'd estimate from the few that I can see that we've got humans, Iskoort, Pemalites, and either Arn or Hork-Bajir. Since both of them are native to the same planet, their trees are very similar -- this one's about half burned so I can't really tell.

"I'd go up top and check it out, but my wing is useless," Tycoola said dejectedly. She didn't like it when she couldn't use her wings. 

"I'll go," Tobias offered. 

Jake shook his head firmly. "No. You're arm is injured pretty badly -- and you know it'll become a wing. The pain might be so bad that you get knocked out in the process of morphing. I don't want to take the risk."

A kafit would be too noticeable, Arbron muttered, even if there aren't any Andalites around.

"Do we know for sure if there aren't?" Loren asked. 

No.

Suddenly Cassie clapped her hands. "But there could be, right? Arbron, did some of those trees look Andalite to you?"

Sort of, he said, turning his stalk eyes to look at her, but keeping his main eyes focused on Mat. I mean, yeah, but they were pretty badly burned.

"Ax," Cassie said, looking at him. "Remember when you were trapped in the remains of your Dome ship? You sent out a thought-speak distress signal. If you do that here, do you think Andalites would come?"

Any decent Andalite would come to help a fallen comrade, he replied. Then, with a touch of scorn, he muttered, Any _decent_ Andalite.

"What'sss that about?" I hissed in Tobias' ear.

"Don't do that," he said, rubbing his ear where my tongue had flicked him. "It has to do with the time when we encountered some Andalites about a year ago, and their captain turned out being a traitor. An entire crew of Andalites lost their lives." 

I was shocked. Arbron and Elfangor had never said anything about Andalites being traitors. Traitors were common among my people, but I hadn't thought it possible for Andalites. 

Ax and Arbron linked hands and closed their eyes -- all of them. I hoped their distress call would work. I wasn't entirely sure how the call would work, but I prayed some Andalite would hear it. Maybe even Elfangor would hear it. 

Both my stomachs began to growl at me. "Jake?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to need to get sssssome food," I said. "I can't be the only one hungry."

"She's right, man," Tobias agreed. "We need food."

Jake groaned. "I don't even want to think about the different things everybody eats. Okay. Who here knows what everyone eats?"

Loren looked up. "I do. I can look in the immediate area and see if there's anything around."

"Go for it," Jake said, "but keep the cave within your line of vision."

Loren nodded and hurried off. 

Once again my stomachs growled. 

__

Chapter Four -- Loren

The terrain was very different from Elysia. More like a jungle instead of a forest. I hoped that didn't mean it would have jungle animals, too. I didn't really need to see a leopard or crocodile or something right now. _Or worse_, I added. 

I didn't need to worry about anything for Arbron and Ax, since there was a patch of grass right outside the cave for them to use. Mat wasn't going to be eating anything until he woke up, but just in case, I scraped some tree bark off the only Hork-Bajir tree that was still standing. 

There was a bush full of berries about six feet away, and I could tell they weren't poisonous, so I grabbed a handful for us humans. "It'll have to do," I muttered when I saw how few of the berries were ripe enough to eat without making you sick. Then I started searching for something for Tycoola and Strike.

They were going to be the hardest. Farsights are grazers, despite their looks of a bird of prey. The only problem was, if they ate leaves that were glossed on one side, they'd get extremely sick. Only a few trees in the entire jungle had leaves like that, and many of them had been burned. This was not a Farsight environment. 

Strike was a little easier. She just ate something with meat. I managed to find a dead rabbit that had gotten caught in the fire from the crash. It seemed out of place in the jungle, but some of the trees were human, so it made sense that some of the animals would be, too.

Armed with my small food supply, I walked back into the cave. Arbron was helping Ax graze, but when they saw me they ducked back into the cave.

"Okay," I said, "I've got something for everyone. There's bark for Mat when he wakes up, I've got berries for us omnivores, some leaves for Tycoola, and since both of your stomachs are complaining, Strike, I got you this." I tossed her the rabbit. "It's a little overcooked, but . . ."

"But it'ssss food," she hissed. Tobias, Cassie, Jake, and Ax, who had never seen an Alleri serpent eat before, watched in fascination as Strike wrapped her entire mouth around the rabbit and swallowed without even chewing. "Thankssss, Loren," she replied. 

I divided up the berries into even piles, just enough for each of us. "Hopefully, once we start moving, there will be more good along the way," Jake said. "How far do you estimate we are from Elysia?"

At most? Arbron asked. About six communities. At least, we're one community away.

This was not good news. 

I'm not getting any reply from the distress signal, Ax said. Noth -- wait! I'm picking something up.

Arbron suddenly doubled over. AAhhHHH! So am I. And I hurts!

Suddenly both of them stopped. They were shaking. It stopped. Suddenly, Ax said. Whoever was sending it got cut off.

Then, I wasn't in the cave. I was standing at the edge of an unfamiliar community. People were running around, screaming.

And at the very far end of the community, coming rapidly closer, was a tangled mass of tentacles and wires and vines. It was eating up everything in sight. Beyond the thing was -- whiteness. There was nothing there. Nothing.

Then, suddenly, I was staring at Tobias. "Are you okay?" he asked, swallowing a berry and making a face. "Too bad you ate all that rabbit, Strike. I could've used some."

It was Arbron who noticed the look of distress on my face. Loren? What happened? Did you have another vision?

I nodded, still too stunned to speak. I knew there was only one thing that thing of destruction could've been. What was it? he probed.

"It's here," I whispered. "The virus. It's on the _fourth ring_."

__

Chapter Five -- Ax

This wasn't very good news. Was that what the other distress call was about? I asked.

She nodded. "I'm going to guess, yeah. I think it just made the transition over from the third ring, so it was pretty tired. This community is right where it entered. I could see the other end of the ring behind it. Whether it goes right or left will determine our fate, and Elysia's. If it goes right, it'll buy us some time. If it goes left, it'll be right on our heels. Or it could go both."

"Either way, we have to move _now_," Prince Jake snapped. "Tired or not, we can't get caught by that thing. Now it's even more important that we get back to Elysia. We have to warn them."

"Do you think they found Marco's mother?" Cassie asked. 

"Marco's mother?" Tobias repeated.

Long story, I said. We'll tell you on the way.

Strike was looking at Mat Hewk. "What about Mat?" she asked in a quavering voice. 

Everyone looked at Jake. He seemed to be struggling. "We have to leave him," he said finally. "I don't want to do it, but we can't take the time to figure out how to bring him along. "

It's the only way, Strike, Arbron said gently. He placed a comforting hand on Strike's neck. Mat wouldn't want us to sacrifice ourselves to save him.

Strike apparently noticed this. She nodded her head and touched Mat's limp hand with her snout. "Maybe he'll wake up and come after ussss," she said, but I could tell she didn't believe it. 

"Come on," Prince Jake called from outside the cave. "We have to move as fast as we possibly can. Even you, Ax."

Loren was the best tracker we had, so she stayed near the front. As we rounded the side of cave, he stopped us suddenly. "Just a reminder," he said, looking straight at me. "I already told this to one of you before, but I think I better tell the rest. None of you have permission to get killed. No matter how heroic it is. If one of us can't possibly go on, then the rest have to continue. Understand?"

We all nodded. "Good. Let's go."

So we started for Elysia, a little group of eight.

When there should've been nine.

__

Chapter Six -- Tycoola

Smack. 

"Ow," I said as my wing once again hit another low tree branch. 

__

Smack. 

"Ow."

Tobias looked over his shoulder and glared at me. "Are you going to keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" I demanded. "It's not like I'm purposely _trying_ to hit my wing against tree branches."

Loren was up ahead, scanning the skies. "I think it might have gone right," she said. "But we should still keep moving, just in case it decides to turn around."

"If it did go right, how long 'till it reaches Elysia?" Jake asked. He was limping towards the front of the group, but unlike me, he wasn't complaining. 

She shrugged. "A week, maybe two."

"Let's hope we reach Elysia first."

Pretty much all of us were in agreement on that.

__

Smack. "Ow."

Tobias whirled around. "Will you just shut-up? You're not the only one with a broken limb, you know!" 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I know," I replied testily. "I also don't see anyone else with a broken wing that keeps hitting tree branches."

Will you _both_ shut up? Ax practically shouted. Tycoola, quit complaining. Tobias, quit reprimanding.

"You're telling _me_ to shut up? She started it!" Tobias whined. 

Loren spun around. "Tobias," she growled. 

"_ENOUGH!_" Jake yelled at the top of his lungs. He couldn't exactly turn around to look at us, but he started yelling at us anyway. "I know we're all tired. I know we're all hungry. I know we're all hurt. I know we're all upset about Mat Hewk. But we have to get over it. We're the only hope Elysia has, because we're the only ones who know that the freakin' virus has arrived ahead of schedule! So everybody pipe down, quit complaining, and just _march!_"

We all stared at Jake in shock. That was the most he'd ever yelled since the Bug fighter had crashed. 

According to Cassie, Tobias, and Ax, Jake doesn't yell much at all.

But when he does, it's a good idea to just do exactly what he says.

So we stopped complaining and basically fell very silent. 

Hup two three four! Hup two three four!

Jake sighed deeply. "Arbron, what did I just say?"

Arbron stopped chanting and looked sheepish. You said you wanted us to march, he said pathetically.

"Great," Tobias muttered, "we've got a stand-in Marco."

I couldn't help but smile. Jake gave Tobias and me another look, glanced at Arbron and just shook his head, then started walking again, using a stick Cassie had given him as a cane every time he reached a tough spot. 

__

Crraack!

Oops, Ax sad meekly.

"What happened now?" Jake demanded in exasperation.

Prince Jake, I'm afraid that I broke the walking stick Cassie is making me use.

We had to take a five minute time-out while Cassie went hunting for a big enough stick for Ax to use. 

When we finally started walking again, we had already wasted about thirty minutes. In the back of my mind, I thought about all the destruction the virus had done in that thirty minutes. With that in mind, I picked up the pace, not even caring anymore about the fact that my wing smacked into a dozen more low branches. 

Suddenly Tobias stopped. "What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "Jake's stopped."

"What's going on?" I called up to Jake. Strike was waiting impatiently behind me. Alleri serpents don't like to be kept waiting for too long. 

"We reached a ravine!" Loren called back. "I can see the trees on the other side -- I don't think it's Elysia, but maybe we can make it to their community and warn _them_, at least. And maybe they can tell us where we are."

"How big issss the ravine?" Strike hissed. 

"Can't be too big if Loren can see across it," Cassie said. 

That's not the problem, Arbron called back. 

"Then what _is_ the problem?" I demanded.

Loren turned to look at us. "It's the crossing bride," she said, referring to the stone and wood bridges that cross each ravine to connect the communities. "It's in pretty bad shape. Either we take our chances going across, and hope it doesn't give out beneath us, or we climb down the rock cliffs."

"We have to walk across," Jake said. "Some of us can't climb."

I saw the bridge then. I didn't like what I saw. In many places of the bridge, the wood had rotted out, leaving the stone. Including a five foot portion right in the middle, right across the deepest and most dangerous part of the ravine. 

__

Chapter Seven -- Tobias

It wasn't the fact that the bridge was very high off the ground that scared me.

It was the fact that there wasn't anything below you to catch you if you fell.

"Jake, morphing would be a good idea right now," I muttered. 

He shook his head. "Cassie doesn't want any of us morphing. Too dangerous with these injuries. Morphing doesn't usually hurt, but there's chance we might black out or something. That wouldn't be good."

"Jake, if Ax doesn't morph or something, he's gonna have one hell of a time getting over that thing." 

Jake glanced back at Ax, who was hobbling along at a very slow pace. He'd been one of the reasons we were moving so slow. He sighed. "Ax," he said. 

Yes, Prince Jake?

"I want you to morph something that'll get you over this bridge. Horse, maybe. The rest of us better keep an eye on him while he does. If it goes over okay, then I want Tobias and Cassie to try," Jake said. I could see that he wasn't sure if he was making the right decision or not. 

Ax began to morph. The morph went from the head down. First his head changed and distorted, growing larger. His stalk eyes combined with his ears to form horse ears, his tail split into several strands and became long horse hair. A mane sprouted from his head and back.

But what we were concerned about was the legs. The first three changed without any problem at all. Then the fourth one began to change, becoming thicker and muscular. Ahh! Ah Ah! That hurts. But he got through the morph. 

"Okay," Jake said. "Ax? How are you doing?"

I'm fine, Prince Jake.

"Cassie, Tobias, your up. Arbron are you going to be okay in your own body?

Cassie and I were morphing when Arbron answered that yes, yes he was fine in his own body.

We're ready, Jake, Cassie said a moment later. Now it's your turn.

Jake closed his eyes and began to morph. He had more trouble than the rest of us, since his entire back was injured and the twisting spine during the morph was rough on him. But he was fine when he finished morphing. 

Everyone ready? Jake asked a moment later.

Slowly, one by one, everyone said yes. 

Let's go, he said. But take it _easy_. Don't rush. I don't want anyone to think that this would be a good time to go skydiving or anything. Remember: you don't have permission to get killed . . . 

No matter how heroic you think it might be, Cassie, Ax, and I chorused. We'd heard it a million times already.

Jake snorted in indignation. "Come on," he said, moving forward. 

I was closest to the bridge, so I went first. Slowly, cautiously, I placed one hoof the stone. Then another. Then my back hooves. I stood for a moment, getting my bearings.

Then, wondering if I was crazy, because a horse definitely doesn't belong twenty miles in the air, I started to move slowly forward. 

__

Chapter Eight -- Arbron

I was not a happy Andalites.

Andalites belong in large grassy fields with a stream or two and lots of trees. Not stepping across a narrow, broken stone bridge over a ravine about a million feet deep. That's just not a good idea. _Maybe I should've morphed the kafit bird after all_, I thought to myself. 

But it was too late now. I was already about halfway across the bridge. I was last, directly behind Strike. Tobias had just about reached the other side of the bridge, and he was practically shaking with relief. There was about two feet between each of us so we wouldn't bump into each other accidentally. I was actually three feet behind Strike. The last thing I needed was the get smacked in the face with her three foot long tail. 

Can you move a little faster? I asked her.

"No" she hissed. "Would you like me to accidentally ssssslither off the sssside if thisssss rock?"

Actually, I didn't. Not even close. Even though my unofficial job in the Core is to pester the heck out of Strike, I actually kind of like her. As serpents go, she's not bad. We're good friends, so she doesn't take any of the stuff I say personally. Unless she's really in a bad mood.

I clammed up. She was obviously in one of her moods.

"Watch out up here," she called back. "There'ssss a weak sssspot in the sstone."

I've gotten in plenty trouble for not paying attention. Ask anyone. Especially Elfangor, since he's the one who's made sure I've gotten the trouble. But it's never really hurt me much. 

I stepped onto the stone. At the same time, I stepped on a pebble, which lodged itself into my hoof. Uh oh, I said. I have a rock stuck in my hoof.

"Jusssst keep moving," Strike said. 

I did, but I was a little off balance now. I didn't think it was a big deal. I reached the problem spot that Strike had pointed out. 

That's when my hoof slid out from under me as a rock went crumbling off the side. Whoa-oa-oa! I screamed as my leg folded beneath me. By combined weight slammed into the bridge, and the slab beneath me began to give out.

__

Chapter Nine -- Strike

Whoa-oa-oa!

I whipped my head around just in time to see Arbron crash onto the bridge. An already formed crack began to get bigger and bigger. "ARBRON!" I cried. I curled myself up as tight possible, whipped my head around so that my body was in a U-shape, and wrapped my tail around his arm. I wrapped my upper body around a ruined stone pillar that jutted out of the bridge. "JAKE, TYCOOLA, LOREN! _HELP!_" 

I could already hear Tycoola scrambling back towards me as fast as she could. Arbron wrapped his arm around my tail and tried pulling himself back up. But Andalite arms are useless for that kind of thing. 

Arbron focused all four of his eyes up at me. Don't let go, Strike, he pleaded. Please -- don't let go.

"I'm not letting go of you, Arbron," I promised. 

I felt Tycoola grabbed me and start pulling. I could feel my tail inching back bit by bit, and I could see Arbron rising slowly. I could also see the blackness of the ravine below him. I couldn't see the ravine bottom -- it was too far down. 

"Hold on, you guys," Tycoola said as she began pulling up Arbron.

Beneath me, I could feel the bridge shifting slightly. My hold on the rock got looser before I realized what was happening. The rock was sliding out from underneath me, too! Arbron noticed it, and his main eyes widened. Then they narrowed defiantly.

Let go, Strike, he said. It's time to let go of me.

I shook my head. "I promissed I wouldn't let you go."

Strike, if you don't let go, we're both going to drop, and you're going to drag Tycoola, Loren, and everyone else in after you. You need to let go. Now.

"Never," I hissed. But my hold on the bridge was loosening. Any minute now the stone was going to fall out from under me. The only thing keeping it in place was Tycoola, but even she wouldn't be enough soon. "Tycoola."

"What?"

"Let go." I don't know what made me say that. All I knew was that I was not letting go of Arbron. 

Tycoola was horrified. "No way, Strike!"

"Let go _now!_" I whipped my head around and snapped my jaws at her. Startled, she jumped back. Her hold loosened. "_No!_" she screamed as I pulled out of her grasp. 

The rock began to slide. I looked back at Arbron. He was staring up at me. He had been the only one who ever really understood me. He'd been my closest friend. "Friends to the death, remember?" I whispered. 

He swallowed. To the death, he repeated. I inched forward and brought my head down near his. I could hear Tycoola trying to grab me.

"I love you, Arbron," I whispered. I don't know if he heard me or not.

Then the rock gave out . . .

__

To be continued . . .


	6. Default Chapter Title

****

The Elysia Wars #6 _Survival of the Fittest: Part 2_

Chapter One -- Tycoola

Gone. Both of them were gone. 

I sat on the edge of the camp where Jake insisted that we take a short rest. The ravine was no longer within eyesight for the others, but I am a Farsight, and I could still see the remains of the bridge.

The bridge that had collapsed underneath Arbron and Strike. 

That made for three dead. First Mat Hewk, who we had to leave behind at the cave back in the previous territory. Now Arbron and Strike, who had fallen into the ravine when the bridge had collapsed. All three had been very close friends of mine. 

Now they were gone. I had had a chance to save Strike and Arbron, but Strike had insisted that I let go. When I had refused, she'd forced me to. That was the last time I saw them. When I had looked again, they were gone. 

A hand touched my shoulder.

I looked to my right at Ax. Are you okay? he asked. 

I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?" 

He looked skeptical. You know, there wasn't anything you could've done to save them. Nothing. They did what was right -- they put the group before themselves. It's not your fault.

"Andalite, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," I snapped sharply.

Ax was slightly taken aback. Then he sighed. If you ever want to talk, just let me know.

Jake and Cassie had followed the exchange between Ax and me, and now they were frowning. I narrowed my eyes and glared at them. Then I stood up. "Where are you going?" Loren asked from near the fire.

"For a walk," I answered curtly. "I need to think. Not talk." With that, I stalked out of the clearing and into the woods. 

Loren ran after me. "Tycoola," she called. I ignored her. 

"Tycoola." This time she grabbed my arm. I didn't look at her, but I did stop. "Don't do this to yourself," she said. "Don't blame yourself for Arbron and Strike. They made their decision, but don't let them make yours. We need to get back to Elysia, and to do that we all need to work together. So stop pouting and put it behind you."

"Put it behind me?" I asked shakily. "Put Arbron and Strike, two of my best friends -- and yours, too, I might add -- behind me, like they don't matter?"

"That's not what I meant --" she started, but I cut her off. 

"You can stop giving me advice, Loren," I said harshly. "Like I told Ax, when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Until then, back off."

I pulled my arm out of her grasp. I couldn't be there anymore. Even though my wing still hurt, it had already begun to heal. Farsights depend on strong wings, so we have developed to be quick healers. I gripped the side of a tree, climbed up a few feet, and opened my wings. 

"Where are you going?" Loren demanded. "Jake wants us all to stay together!" 

I laughed shrewdly. "I could care less what Jake wants. See you later, Loren. I'm out of here." I reached over and pulled of the patch that signified me as a member of the Elysia Core. "Give this to Elfangor when you see him. Be sure to tell him I have no regrets." With those words as my good-bye, I pushed off the tree, felt the thermals from the sun push up under my wings, and flew off as well and as fast as I could. 

__

Chapter Two -- Loren

I stared after Tycoola in shock. Then I glanced numbly down at her Core badge. 

I turned around and started back to the camp when suddenly -- FLASH! 

The vision was brief. It wasn't even really a vision, just a sense. But it shook me up good. 

I ran back to camp as fast as possible. Coming up behind Tobias, who was fully healed and very quiet, I grabbed his arm. "Jake," I gasped. "I need your help."

He looked at me. "What happened?"

"Tycoola quit," I replied. "She took off on her own. The virus has turned around -- she's heading right into its path. You're the only who can possibly follow her."

Tobias stared at me. "Jake?" he asked, looking at Jake. I wasn't even aware that he had been listening. 

Jake's face was pale and drawn. "Go, Tobias. Find Tycoola. Warn her. The rest of us, get going."

"Tobias?" I repeated.

"I'm the best flyer," he answered. "If I can't find her, no one can."

"But you'll be going right into the virus!" I gasped. 

He nodded. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. I couldn't see what it was. "Jake. If I don't . . . you know . . . will you make sure Rachel gets this?" 

Jake bit his lip. Then his jaw tightened. "I'll hold onto it. But you'll have to give it to her. Now go!" 

Fully hawk, Tobias flapped once, twice, but he was having a hard time getting off the ground. I picked him up and whispered, "Be careful, Tobias. I don't want you to join us just yet." Then I gave him a push, just enough to send him off. 

Don't worry about me, Mom, he replied so that only I heard him.

__

Chapter Three -- Tobias

Now that I think about it, maybe I should start getting my head examined regularly. I can't believe that I am _willingly_ going back _towards_ the virus, when my friends are all heading _away_ from it. What am I, crazy?

Then again, none of us have exactly been sane ever since Elfangor crashed into the local construction site and gave us a death wish. 

Stop it, Tobias, I muttered. You're starting to sound like Marco.

That's not a good thing. 

The sun was high in the sky, so once I was clear of the trees, I started getting some great thermals. There was one that rocketed me about seventy-five miles into the air in just a few seconds. 

Tycoola? I called out. Tycoola, you out there?

No answer. Duh. She doesn't use thought-speak, so of course she can't answer me if I call out to her. 

Suddenly I caught sight of something huge flying below me. It looked exactly like a Farsight. I killed my speed and put myself into a dive. I came out of it just a few feet from the Farsight. Tycoola?

The Farsight flared quickly. Killing her speed, she landed on a large branch on a tree below. I followed. 

"Who said that?" That was when I realized it wasn't Tycoola; this Farsight wasn't even female!

I landed beside him. I did. Tobias, the hawk, right next to you. Sorry if I scared you. I thought you were someone else. Have you seen a Farsight, looks a lot like you only her wing's probably broken or at least injured, answers to Tycoola?

Apparently this Farsight was used to talking birds. "My name is Rar," he said, "and if you're talking about the Farsight who's been dive-bombing our community every five seconds, yeah, I've seen her."

Really? Where is she? 

Rar didn't seem exactly eager to answer.

Rar? I asked. Where is she?

He looked at me. "Look, sometimes we get rogues out here. You know, from the wastelands. We've got a portal dangerously close to our community. So we've had to put up defenses. I wanted to try talking to her, but the Council . . . I'm sorry. They acted without consulting me."

You mean . . . ? I felt sick.

He nodded. "She was shot down by our aerial defenses. I got sent to scout the area, to make sure there weren't any others. Was she a spirit?"

Yeah, I whispered. I swallowed hard. Do you have any idea why she was diving?

"Being a Farsight, I have a tendency to read body language better than most. I'd say she saw something and was trying to warn us. But I'm the _only_ Farsight in Maldova, so do they believe me? No. I'm just a scout," Rar said with a touch of scorn. 

In a flash, I got an idea. Follow me, Rar, I said. I flapped and took to the air. Rar was right behind me, matching me evenly as I rose higher, even though I was positive he could go faster. We flew all the way up to the bottoms of the clouds. I scanned the horizon. There. That's what Tycoola was warning you about.

Rar stared in shock and horror. "I don't believe it," he whispered. "It's the virus. On the fourth ring?"

It's been following my group since we crashed in the neighboring community. The one that's been destroyed, I said. We've been trying to reach Elysia to warn them. We clocked the virus at arriving later than it did.

"So did we," Rar replied. "Come on. We must reach Maldova and begin evacuation. You said there were others with you?"

Heading west, on foot, I replied. 

"We'll send scouts for them. You said you're from Elysia?"

Yeah, I answered.

"That's next over, to the west. That's where we'll be evacuating to. You're welcome to join us, of course," Rar said. 

Thank you. I better go find my friends.

"Maldova is about a two miles to the right at our present location. You should have no trouble finding us!" he called after me.

Thanks! I called back as I raced top speed towards where I had last left my group.

__

Chapter Four -- Jake

Cassie was walking next to me as we moved quickly through the woods. With those of us who had been badly injured healed thanks to morphing, we were moving a lot quicker. 

"What are we going to tell the others, Jake?" she asked quietly. "What are we going to say happened to Arbron, Mat, Strike, and Tycoola? And Tobias," she added in a whisper.

I took her hand. "Don't count Tycoola and Tobias out just yet, Cassie," I said. But she was right. Out of the nine of us in the crash, only four of us were here now -- Cassie, Ax, Loren, and myself. Tobias we were still unsure about, as well as Tycoola.

"Look!" Loren cried from up ahead.

We looked up. There, coming in for a landing, was a red-tail hawk. "Tobias?" I asked incredulously. "You made it!" 

Yeah, he said dully. But Tycoola didn't.

I felt my throat close up. "The virus?"

No, he said. The community in this area shot her down because she was dive-bombing them. Trying to warn them about the virus, which she could see from over the city. They thought she was from the wastelands. I ran into their scout -- a Farsight named Rar. He's getting ready to evacuate Maldova. He says Elysia's the next community over, and that we're welcome to go with them. He also sends his apologies about Tycoola. He says he had nothing to do with her death.

"Where is this community?" I asked.

About three miles from here, Tobias replied. I've got abut an hour left in morph -- you guys can follow me.

"What about Loren?" Cassie asked. 

She can ride me, Ax said suddenly. I can easily keep up with Tobias and the rest of you as an Andalite, and we should reach the community quickly. Just don't expect me to play horse regularly.

"Thank you," Loren said. 

Have you ever ridden an Andalite before? Tobias asked skeptically as Cassie and I began to morph. 

Loren had already mounted Ax. "Once," she replied. "Elfangor and I needed to get away from Visser Three. My riding him was the fastest way." 

Let's get going, I said, flapping and getting altitude. Moments later, a red-tail hawk, a peregrine falcon, and osprey took to the air, with an Andalite and a human following on the ground.

If we hadn't been running for our lives, it would've almost been funny.

__

Chapter Five -- Ax

I'm not as strong as my brother, I'll say that right up front. I don't know how he managed with Loren riding him that one time, but by the time we reached Maldova, I was beginning to labor. Loren understood that, thankfully, and dismounted as soon as we came to a stop. Prince Jake, Tobias, and Cassie landed and demorphed.

"Rar?" Tobias called. We were at the very edge of Maldova, and the community looked deserted.

Suddenly a Farsight swooped down from a tall building and landed easily. "Is that you, Tobias?" he asked. "You look different."

"Morphing," Tobias answered. "It's the only way to travel. These are my friends Jake, Cassie, and Ax, and my mother, Loren."

Rar nodded to each of us. "The community is waiting to evacuate. The Elders weren't happy that I promised I'd wait for you, but after I told them about their mistake with your friend, they knew better than to try and cross me."

Rar led us swiftly to the opposite end of the community. Maldova was more like a town, whereas Elysia had clearly been a city. It didn't take us long to reach the evacuees. There were only about twenty of them. Small community, I commented.

"Yes," Rar agreed. "Maldova is a trading community, so we often send many of our people off to other communities to trade our stock. None of our traders have returned, however. We fear they are lost for good."

I didn't feel that it was right to agree with him. Probably he and his fellow Maldovans had suffered enough as it was. 

"These are the Elysians," Rar said to a group of older people. "In exchange for helping them reach Elysia safely, they have agreed to help us try to survive this virus. In order for this to be accomplished, we must reach Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul in Elysia."

A being that even I didn't recognize snorted. He looked like an Andalite, only without the extra eyes and tail. His top half was human, his bottom was horse. "A centaur," Cassie breathed.

"Did you want to say something, Clory?" Rar asked.

"Yes," Clory replied. "How can we believe Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, legendary here even among the communities of peace, will help us? We're not even his own community."

Leave this to me, I whispered to Loren and Tobias. I stepped forward. I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil, will vouch on my brother's behalf that he shall help you, as you helped his brother, wife, and only son return to him safely.

This little speech caused great commotion. Obviously, it had not occurred to them that I, at least, might be in any way related to Elfangor.

Sometimes it's a pain being Elfangor's younger brother. Other times, it's a blessing.

This was one of those times.

"Are we ready to move out?" Rar asked. The Maldovans all agreed. So did we. "Then let's go!" 

"Come on, everyone," Prince Jake said. "Let's get back to the others."

The five of us followed the twenty evacuees to Elysia, and hopefully, safety. 

__

Chapter Six -- Marco

My mother slept for several hours once we got her back to the Core base. In the meantime, Cha-Nab and I had been desperately trying to get through to Loren. But somehow, our powers just weren't connecting with her at all. I knew Elfangor was very worried. So worried, in fact, that ever since we'd come back from searching, he'd done nothing but stand at his window and stare out over the city like a mannequin in a department store window. He looked so depressed that he was making _me_ depressed.

Rachel was worried, too, but she was more vocal about it. 

__

Crash!

"Rachel, stop throwing things!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"Shut up, Marco," she growled from the other room.

My mom stirred. "Marco?" 

I turned back to her and smiled. "Hey, Mom," I said softly. "Sleep well?" 

She smiled shakily. "You could say that," she said, then yawned. "I never knew a hurt ankle could be so exhausting."

"Just relax," I said. "You're safe now."

Mom struggled into a sitting position. "What about you? Last I heard, you were a Controller." 

I rolled my eyes. "It was a bluff. A total and complete bluff. I didn't expect that office to be occupied."

"What were you doing down there, then, if you weren't under Yeerk control?" she asked.

Rachel came in then. "Hi, Laura," she said. "Marco, what have you told her?"

"Nothing yet," I said. "But she's not getting taken again, Rachel. I'm not going to let her."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Free or die -- the Hork-Bajir motto. Are we going to make every freed Controller take that up."

Mom laughed. "It's not a bad motto. Free or dead. I like it."

"She's cool, Rachel," I assured her. "Trust me."

"The day I do that is the day wild pygmies eat me alive," Rachel said, grabbing a bunch of cans and walking back into the other room. 

__

Bonk!

"Rachel, stop throwing things!" I shouted again. 

"Shut up, Marco," she called back automatically. 

Mom looked at the door. "What's with her?" 

"She's worried about her boyfriend," I explained. "He got captured by the Yeerks, and we sent a search party looking for him. As far as we know, the ship they were on crashed. Remember the explosion we saw?"

"Yeah," Mom said. "Her boyfriend was on that? Wow. I hate to say it, but there's a good chance he didn't survive."

I laughed. "You can't say that about an Animorph until you find a dead body," I said. 

"A _what_?"

"It's what I am now, Mom," I said. "An Animorph. There are six of us: Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, an Andalite named Ax, and me. We've been fighting to Yeerks for three years together now. You and I have even fought against each other."

"No we haven't," Mom disagreed. "I would've seen you."

"Remember the gorilla who was on the mother ship two years ago?" I asked.

She stared at me. 

I considered morphing when I suddenly felt dizzy. I closed my eyes and touched my forehead gently, since it started throbbing. "Marco?" Mom asked, but her voice sounded distant.

Then I opened my eyes. "Rachel, get Elfangor! Now!" 

Rachel came running out of the other room. "What is it?" she asked.

"Loren. She got through! She, Tobias, Jake, Cassie, and Ax are on their way here with a bunch of people from another community. She sounded pretty urgent, but we were cut off quickly. Go tell Elfangor."

Rachel was already halfway out of the room. Then she stopped. "What about the others?"

I shrugged. "She didn't say. Just go!" 

I looked at my Mom, who seemed shocked. "Oh, yeah," I said weakly. "That's another thing. I'm psychic."

She just continued to stare. Then she stood up and limped to the cupboard. "I need an aspirin," she moaned.

__

Chapter Seven -- Elfangor

I stood on the back porch, staring blankly over the community. There hadn't been any word from Loren. Cha-Nab and Marco were unable to contact her. Laura had been through a rough time, and hadn't yet revealed what she knew about the virus, which she referred to at as the Neutro-Virus. 

Loren, I cried to myself, Please come home. Come back to me. Bring Tobias back safely. Please be okay. I'm not psychic; I knew she couldn't hear my silent plea. But still I said it, repeating it over and over again like just saying the words would let her show up at the door.

Rachel came running around the side of the house. "Elfangor!" she shouted, seeing me.

I turned my main eyes towards her, while keeping my stalk eyes turned to the direction I had been staring at. What is it, Rachel?

She was incredibly excited. "Marco says Loren contacted him! They're coming with a bunch of people from a neighboring community. That's all he heard before the contact broke, though."

Loren had gotten through! I felt new hope rise within me, and my hearts felt like they were about to burst with happiness and relief. Where are they now?

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. But if they're in a neighboring community, and the call went out about twenty minutes ago -- I've been looking for you that long -- then they should be close, right?"

Depending on which route they take, I said, nodding. I grabbed the phone and rang up Srangi, making the thought-transmitter was in place. Srangi? Dispatch scouts to search for a group of people heading this way. I'm not sure if it's Maldova or Serandon, so check both bridges.

"Why are they heading here?" Srangi asked.

I don't know, I said truthfully. All I know is that Loren is with them.

I was just hanging up when Marco and Laura came hurrying into the backyard. "Marco just had another vision," Laura said breathlessly.

What is it? I asked.

He was shaken up. "It's another message from Loren. She said," He gulped and tried to calm down. "She said that they lost the others."

"Lost the others?" Rachel asked. 

He nodded. "Mat, Tycoola, Strike, and Arbron. They didn't make it."

I stared at him in shock. Why? I managed to ask.

He shrugged. "We got cut off again. Cha-Nab isn't even getting the messages. I think something -- something powerful -- keeps cutting us off. We'll have to wait for Loren and everybody to get here."

I leaned against the porch railing. Arbron hadn't made it? My best friend was gone? 

Srangi suddenly landed. "It has to be Maldova that they're coming from, Elfangor -- they've just issued a first-class evacuation. It just came in over the waves."

I snapped out of my reveries. Go! I ordered. Take your scouts and make certain they make it here. And find out what this evacuation is all about!

Srangi saluted and took off in the direction of the Maldova-Elysia bridge.

__

Chapter Eight -- Cassie

The landscape of Maldova was much easier to go through than the last one -- which Rar had said was called Galvin -- had been, since Maldova was a farming community and they had cleared away much of the landscape for their farms. We had no trouble, really, reaching the Maldova-Elysia bridge. 

The front of the group, which included Rar and Jake, had just reached the edge of the ravine when something swooped down from above. "Well, you sure are a sight for sore eyes!" a voice called down. 

"Srangi?" Loren asked, surprised. "How did you know we were coming?"

Two more dragons landed behind Srangi. The entire group stopped and turned. Rar and Jake made their way towards the back, where the three scouts had landed. "You sent out a message," Srangi said. "And the evacuation just came over the waves." He looked slightly uncomfortable. "We, ah, heard Arbron and the rest didn't make it."

"Unfortunately, you heard correctly," Jake said. 

"I didn't know Cha-Nab heard my cry," Loren said.

"He didn't," Srangi replied. "Didn't Jake tell you and Tobias?"

"Tell us what?" Tobias asked.

Jake, Ax, and I groaned. "It completely slipped our minds," I said. "Marco. Turns out he's psychic, too. Did you find his mother?"

"Yeah," Srangi said. "She says she has information on how to stop the Neutro-Virus. Elfangor says we had to wait till we found you guys before we started building defenses."

The rest of us paled. "You mean you don't even know how to stop it yet?" Jake whispered hoarsely.

Srangi was confused. "No. Why?"

Rar, even though he didn't know Srangi, answered. "The virus is already here! We're evacuating Maldova because of it, and Galvin's already gone."

"Galvin is . . . you mean it's _here?_ On the fourth ring?" Srangi looked like someone had just slapped him in the face. "Oh, lord. We need to get back to Elysia, now!" He turned to his other scouts. "Jericho, Makto: make sure these people get across the bridge." He looked back at us. "I can take one person back with me to warn Elfangor."

Tobias, Ax said quickly. You're the one who's been clocking this virus, and you're the one who spotted it. You go.

"I can't --" 

"Go!" Jake, Loren, and I said. 

He looked like he was about to protest, but Loren glared at him. So instead of arguing, he climbed onto Srangi's back. "Tell Elfangor we'll be right behind you!" Loren said as they started to take off. 

Jericho and Makto were already beginning to lead people over the bridge, which happened to be in much better shape than the last one. 

Jake, Rar, Ax, Loren, and I wanted to wait until most of the people started across. "Loren?" Jake asked.

"Yeah?"

"What will happen if we don't get the defense up in time?" 

Loren glanced back at the direction the virus was coming from. "Elysia will have to be evacuated to the fifth ring," she said. "And that's about two thousand people."

I felt sick to my stomach, but I refused to let the fear take over. "We'll be okay," I whispered fiercely. "We've survived the Yeerks, we've survived Crayak, and more recently, we've been able to outrun this thing. We can hold out a little longer. We _have_ to."

__

Chapter Nine -- Srangi

"Are you doing okay up there, Tobias?" I asked. "I know I'm going fast."

Tobias laughed. It was forced. "Well, I'm not entirely used to someone _else_ doing to flying, but I'm okay with being in the air and going fast. I'm a hawk, after all."

"Yeah, I guess you would be used to it," I said, catching sight of Elfangor's house. There was a big crowd in the lawn. Probably waiting for the evacuees. I took a deep breath and let out a loud roar to get their attention. Everyone looked up. 

Srangi, where are the evacuees? Elfangor demanded as I landed. You weren't supposed to leave -- Tobias?

Tobias jumped off me before I was entirely on the ground. The entire crowd was treated to the sight of Elfangor hugging his son. Then the entire crowd was treated to the sight of Tobias pulling away and gasping for air. "That was a little tight, dontcha think, Dad?"

Suddenly Rachel came up behind him and hugged him hard. Tobias didn't seem to mind this one as much, especially when Rachel kissed him a minute later. Marco was coming up next to me. "They seem happy to see each other," I muttered.

Marco was smirking. "Just you wait."

Rachel and Tobias parted and looked at each other. Then Rachel smacked Tobias, good and hard. "Hey!" Tobias cried in protest.

"Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again!" she shouted. "Do you _know_ how much I worried about you? Where the _hell_ have you _been_?" 

Tobias rubbed his injured face. "Running for my life," he snapped. "Geez -- If I had known you were going to hit me, I would've made Jake come instead."

"She's just relieved to see you, Bird-boy," Marco interrupted gleefully. Then his expression grew serious. "Actually, we all are. We thought you were all killed in that explosion."

Tobias shook his head. "Nope. Mom saved our lives." 

Elfangor started to say something when I suddenly roared again. "Tobias, get to the point! I didn't carry you here so you could chat with your friends, you know!" 

What point, Tobias? Elfangor asked. What is Srangi talking about? Is everyone okay?

"Well, actually, we did lose a few people, but that's not what Srangi's talking about. See --"

Suddenly something with hooves pounded up behind the entire crowd. We all turned to see Ax come running up. We're all across, he said breathlessly. And _it_ almost is, and picking up speed.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Don't hit me again, Rachel, but," Tobias gulped, "the virus. It's here."

__

That's the end of Survival of the Fittest. Stayed tuned for Part Seven of the Elysia Wars: Evacuating Elysia: coming whenever I manage to get it done. Hopefully soon. 


	7. Default Chapter Title

**__**

Thanks to THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE for the definition of "abyss".

The Elysia Wars #7 Evacuating Elysia

__

Chapter One -- Rachel

The good news was that Tobias, Jake, Cassie, Ax, and Loren had all made it back to Elysia safe and sound.

The bad news was that we lost Arbron, Mat, Strike, and Tycoola.

The horrible news was that the Neutro-Virus was on its way to Elysia, and nobody was prepared to deal with it.

Elfangor didn't even wait to see if the evacuees had all made it into the city boundaries. Srangi, as soon as the last person is in the city, I want you to power up the perimeter force fields. Devone, you and Laura better try to figure out how to stop this thing. Marco, you and Cha-Nab go try to open a communication link with Mi Ung on the fifth ring. I'll send Loren as soon as she gets here. Meanwhile, I'm putting this community under a Class A1 Level Emergency Evacuation. Alo, if any other communities question that, tell them to get out of the way -- preferably to the next ring.

Jake and Cassie came running up to Tobias and me a second later. "What's Elfangor yelling about?" Jake asked.

"He's going into Class A1 Level Emergency Evacuation, whatever the heck that is," Tobias said. "He's assigning people all sorts of tasks."

Jake waved Ax over to us. "Where's Marco?"

"He went with Cha-Nab to try and contact someone on the fifth ring," I replied. "Why?"

"Have they left yet?" Jake asked.

Ax looked around. No, he said. I see him now.

"Ax, go get him. Then meet us in the house." The four of us managed to slip away unnoticed inside the house Tobias and Ax were staying at with Elfangor and Loren. Fortunately, no one was actually _in_ the house.

"I'm here, Fearless Leader," Marco said five minutes later. "Loren took over for me, so what's up?"

Jake motioned all of us over to the kitchen island in the kitchen. "I don't think anything these guys throw at the virus is going to stop it," he said. "This thing is moving fast, and it's huge. It's bigger than anything we've faced before."

That's not good, Ax said.

"You're right," Jake agreed, "it's not. But we didn't get dragged in here just so we could be killed. I don't think anything that Yeerk told your mother is going to do any good now. Which means we need to take matters into our own hands."

Marco groaned. "We're going to jump into a suicide mission, aren't we?" he demanded. "Aren't we?"

Tobias smiled uncertainly. "I understand what you're saying, Jake -- but there's no way Elfangor is going to let us do this."

"Then we don't tell Elfangor." This, surprisingly, came from Cassie. Usually she's all for not breaking the rules and stuff. "Look, those force fields they've got up -- they're not going to hold. And chances are whatever the Yeerk knew needs Yeerk technology anyway. We're Elysia's only chance."

"Why doesn't that make me feel good?" Marco snapped.

"Tobias, Marco, Ax -- you two know the most about computers here. Tobias says this thing is a large computer virus. What can stop a computer virus?" Jake asked.

"Any decent virus monitor," Marco said. "But somehow I doubt we'll find one big enough."

Jake nodded. "Where would the best place be to wipe out the virus?"

If we were to emanate a charge powerful enough to destroy it? Ax said. Probably the heart of the program.

"If I remember correctly from that big chart in the meeting room," I said, "that's where the Ellimist lives."

Tobias rolled his eyes. "I figure that guy owes us one or two favors," he said. "But we'd need a big enough virus program."

"How does an android get through life without a virus?" Marco asked.

"Huh?"

"Erek," Marco snapped. "You have to figure, he's lived as long as he has: he had to have had a virus or two. Obviously he'd have to have a virus program. Something strong enough so that the virus doesn't come back."

We stared at each other. "Marco, you're a genius!" I cried. "Erek. We need Erek. Which means we need to swipe that small cube from the meeting hall in order to get home."

No, Ax said. We cannot leave -- we don't know what time we'd be going or coming back to. Remember, time is different between the two realms.

"So how do we bring Erek here?" Cassie asked.

We merely ask the Escafil Device to transport him, Ax said simply. See, the call emits through a Z-Space tube, where time is slowly than light, and light is faster than the rotation of the proximity to Earth and its sun --

"Ax?" Jake asked.

Yes, Prince Jake?

"SHUT UP!" we all shouted. 

Ax stopped.

"Okay," Jake said, "I figure two people going after the box is enough. No use in calling attention to ourselves. Ax, you know how to work the thing, so you're in. Marco, I want you in with him. You know your way around the meeting hall."

"Hey!" I protested. "What about me? I know my way around, too!"

Jake looked at me. "We need you out here, Rachel," he said. "We need to destroy that force field so that Erek can get in."

Destroy? Destroy a force field? "Okay," I agreed. "When do we start?"

__

Chapter Two -- Ax

"Jake made this sound like the easy part," Marco muttered behind me. "Yeah, right."

We must be quiet, Marco, I reminded him.

"I'm _trying_ to be quiet," Marco snapped. "Besides, it doesn't matter if we're quiet or not. Everyone else is screaming at the top of their lungs. It's not like they can actually _hear_ us or anything."

I've learned to ignore Marco when he gets like this. Usually, he'll complain and whine about several other things that have absolutely nothing to do with the task at hand, then end up doing exactly what he was complaining about. 

We slipped past a group of scientists and found ourselves in a room containing several weapons.

"Gee, they're not afraid of anyone stealing this stuff, are they?" Marco commented.

The Escafil Device was right in the middle of the room, on a small pedestal. There was no alarm, or case over it. Obviously, Marco was correct -- no one in Elysia was afraid that these objects were going to disappear.

Suddenly I noticed something. Marco, I said, the Escafil Device is right in the doorway. If you go to take it, people will see you.

"Right," Marco agreed. "Rachel and I know that. See, I have faith. Or, rather, I have Rachel. Any minute now, we're going to be able to grab that thing and run."

How?

HREEEEHUUHHH!

TSSERRRR! 

RAUGHHROARRR!

ARROOOWWW!

Everyone in the adjacent rooms stopped screaming. They all turned slowly to the Council Circle directly outside the meeting room.

My brother was the first to speak. What in all the bloody tails of Cranger are those kids doing? He had figured out that the group weren't true animals. 

"Sir, there's an elephant, a hawk, a wolf, and a tiger trying to break down the force fields!" some human cried in shock and amazement. 

__

CRUNCH!

"Uh, sir! The elephant, hawk, wolf, and tiger have broken _through_ the force fields! They've destroyed the main power cells!"

"NOW!" Marco hissed, darting forward and snatching the Escafil Device right out from under their noses. Just as quickly, he darted back to where I was waiting. "I hope you know how to work this."

Arbron explained quite nicely earlier, I said. Hmm. If I take his instructions and reverse the effects, I should be able to draw Erek to us, rather than draw us to Erek.

"Just do it!" 

I pressed my hand against the cube and focused my mind. I could feel the power flowing from the box and around us. Then the power flowed away from us and an area in front of us began to glow. It began to take shape . . . 

**__**

Meanwhile, before the blue box is used . . . 

Chapter Three -- Erek

I hung up the phone and turned to my "father", Chee-Marl. "There's still no answer at Marco's house. And I've left several messages on all of the phone lines. 

Marl looked at me. "I'm sure nothing's wrong, Neja."

Chee-Neja is the name my creators gave me. Erek King is my human name for this lifetime. That's the name I most often go by. 

__

He's probably right, I told myself as I walked upstairs to my room. 

I sat on my bed and gazed out my window. It was already getting dark. Marco and Jake had been supposed to meet me at the mall earlier that week, but they'd never shown. When I called both their houses, their parents had said they were over helping Cassie, but Cassie's parents hadn't seen them for hours. 

That had been on Saturday.

Today was Wednesday. 

Jake, Rachel, Marco, Cassie, Tobias, and Ax had been missing for five days, and no one had a clue where they were. 

I remembered something a Controller had said at a Sharing meeting two days ago. How he and a Hork-Bajir had chased down a full-grown Andalite, only to be chased off by an Andalite child.

My friend Chee-Tala, or Jenny, and I knew right away that the child had to have been Ax. Who the other Andalite was, that we didn't know. 

The police had been searching for Jake, Rachel, Cassie, and Marco since Sunday. We Chee had been searching for all four of them, plus Tobias and Ax, since Saturday. 

Someone knocked on my door. "Come in," I said.

Jenny walked in. "Are you okay, Erek?" she asked.

I nodded. "Just worried, I guess," I replied. "It's almost been a week. The Yeerks are almost finished testing the Neutro-Virus. If they use in on Earth, they'll have this place conquered in no time."

"Did you have any luck finding out where they're testing the virus?" Jenny asked.

I shook my head. "I don't even know exactly what it is, or what it can do. All I know is that it's dangerous."

Jenny nodded and sat down next to me. "We'll find them," she said confidentially. "I know we will."

"I hope so," I whispered. 

"Erek."

"What?" 

"Erek!" She sounded like she was shouting, but I could barely hear her. I looked up and noticed suddenly that my vision was fading. My room was a becoming very faint, while another room was becoming sharper in my vision. I could hear other noises, noises that hadn't been there a second before. 

I stood up just as my room disappeared completely. I was standing in a large room, and outside I could hear people yelling in hundreds of different languages. 

"Where am I?" I whispered.

"Hey, Erek. Long time no see."

I turned my head. "Marco?"

__

Chapter Four -- Marco

Erek looked at Ax and me. "Marco?"

I grinned. "The one and only."

"You're not dead?"

Ax and I looked at each other. You explain, Marco, Ax said generously. 

"Gee, thanks," I muttered. Then I looked at Erek. "Nope, I'm not dead. It's just that we've got a slight problem, and we kind of need your help with it."

"Where are we?" Erek demanded.

"This would be Elysia," I answered. "One of the many communities of the dead. And Elysia is being destroyed by a Yeerk device called the Neutro-Virus. We also think that maybe Crayak is helping things a little."

Erek looked dismayed -- or, rather, his hologram looked dismayed. "The Neutro-Virus?"

"Yeah, you've heard of it?"

He nodded. "It's the talk of the Sharing this past week. This was the thing I wanted to talk to you about last Saturday. You never showed."

Saturday? Oh, yeah, now that he mentioned it, I did remember Jake and me agreeing to meet Erek then. "So we're a day late," I said, shrugging. "Sorry."

Erek shook his head. "Marco, you and the others have been missing for almost five days. It was Wednesday when I Ieft."

__

Five days? I looked at Ax. Arbron told us there was a time difference, he said. 

"Arbron?" Erek echoed. "Who's Arbron? And _why_ are people screaming out --"

A tiger burst into the room. Marco, Ax -- hey Erek. Elfangor's throwing a fit out here. He's already begun evacuation, and according to Srangi, the virus is a day away. Does Erek know what we need him for?

"I was just getting to that," I said crossly. I quickly outlined the plan we had come up with. "We figure the Ellimist owes us a favor or two."

"How do you expect to talk to him?" Erek asked. 

That stopped us. "Uh . . ." 

When we're evacuated, Ax said, we'll be crossing the barriers. If we can somehow contact other rings, the seven of us can continue to the Ellimist's realm. Then we can request entrance.

"I'll start contacting people," I said. "I'm the only one who can do it."

Jake nodded his big head. All right. I'll tell Rachel to stop stomping what's left the force field and I'll fill them in. Should we tell Elfangor about this or not?

Ax shook his head. Definitely not. I know my brother -- he will never allow us to do something like this, even if it would save the community.

Okay, then we have to do this in secret, Jake said. Erek, can you begin downloading your anti-virus programs?

Erek nodded. "I'll start right now."

I was already beginning to contact Mi Ung, the fifth ring psychic. We've got less than a day to pull this off, guys, Jake said. You all know what to do. Ax, bring the box and come with me. Marco, Erek -- as soon as you're done, head for the evacuation bay. Don't bother looking for us. If you get separated, just keep going. Either way, Erek _must_ get through, and at least one of us should, too. The Ellimist doesn't owe the Chee any favors.

"Just get out of here," I snapped. Suddenly I made connection with Mi Ung. 

__

Hello?

Mi Ung?

Yes, who is this?

My name is Marco. I'm with Elysia, on the fourth ring. I've got something I need to talk to you about . . . 

Chapter Five -- Elfangor

Has anyone seen my brother, or my son? I asked a group of people by the evacuation bay. The entire bay was seething with people. There were people from at least five different communities, and more were coming. 

It was the fourth group I had asked. The other groups had all denied seeing Ax and Tobias. "I think I saw Tobias and that girlfriend of his cross the portal a few minutes ago," someone from Maldova said.

Thanks, I said.

Loren had already head over to the fifth ring, so I hoped she would find him over there. But Ax was still unaccounted for. Ax? I called as I searched the crowd. There were several Andalites, but not one of them was my little brother. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil! Wherever he was, he wasn't answering my call. 

Suddenly Srangi hurried over. "Elfangor, the Escafil Device is gone."

I turned all four of my eyes towards him. Excuse me? I asked calmly. I'm not sure I heard you very clearly. I thought you said the Escafil Device was gone.

Srangi gulped. "I, uh, did, sir."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Then find it! And while you're at it, see if you can track down my brother. He doesn't seem to be answering.

"He's not here, sir," Srangi said tentatively. "I saw him head over to the fifth ring about an hour ago."

I breathed a sigh of relief. What about the other Animorphs?

"All present and accounted for. They all crossed over to the other ring. Though we still don't have a clue why they were destroying the force field. But, sir? About the Escafil Device?"

I frowned. Just --

A loud roar began filling up the air. My stalk eyes reflexively turned to look behind me. Just off in the distance, I could see a band of white beginning to form across the sky. And then, every few minutes, the tip of a large tentacle. -- forget about it! I finished. Srangi, I want you to get over to the fifth ring _now_! The Neutro-Virus is almost here. I'll handle things here.

"Loren is going to kill you if you don't come with me," Srangi snapped.

I looked at him. I'm already dead, I replied. Besides, she doesn't listen to me, so why should I listen to her? Besides, Laura and Devone still haven't figured out what to do about this thing.

"Do you want me to sound Massive Evacuation?"

Do it, I said. I'll stay here to make sure everyone gets over. Tell my wife I'll be there when I can.

Srangi took off.

I stood there silently, watching the tips of the tentacles whip up and around and tear down the world.

__

Chapter Six -- Tobias

Jake had us all split up into groups. He went off with Cassie and Ax. Rachel came with me. I don't think she really wanted to let me out of her sight. Not yet, anyway. 

"So we have to find Mi Ung," Rachel said after we'd been walking aimlessly for about fifteen minutes. "Where do we find her?"

"She's psychic," I said. "Maybe she'll find us."

"Maybe," Rachel said skeptically. "But that seems like such a long shot. We should probably try looking for her ourselves."

I looked at her. Then I gestured to the crowd around us. "Rachel, there has to be hundreds of people here. And we don't even know if Mi Ung is human or not. Remember, not everyone is. We know that best of all."

"Especially you," she said playfully. "After all, look at your family tree."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we leave my genealogy out of this conversation, please?"

She just smiled. I love it when she smiles. Her whole face lights up. She looks more like a goddess than a normal girl. Then again, she's not exactly normal. Someone as beautiful as her can't be considered . . . um, well, never mind. I digress. 

"Oh, no!" Rachel hissed.

"What?" 

"There's your mom," she said, pointing, "and I think she's looking for you! I think she's looked _at_ you."

Mom started walking towards me. 

"Quick," I said, "we need to move."

Rachel looked at me incredulously. "Yeah, right. We're packed in here tighter than sardines."

"Then it's diversion time," I said. 

"Watching those Saturday morning super hero cartoons with Ax, again, Tobias?" Rachel teased. "This isn't a cartoon! You can't just whip up a diversion!" 

"Watch me." I started to morph rapidly. No one noticed. As soon as you can, get out of here. But first, give me a boost. She picked me up and heaved me into the air. _What to do, what to do?_ I thought. I needed a target. I needed a good target. I spotted something. _Bingo._

There was a variety store near the evacuation bay. I guess even dead people need amusement once in awhile. And right in plain sight was a can of that silly string. You know, the stuff you spray and it gets all over everything and you can never get it off?

I dove down and grabbed a can. That's when I realized I had a whole new reason to love my talons. They were _excellent_ for spraying this out of cans. 

Rachel, cover your head! I called out in private thought-speak. Then I pressed down on the spray can. Pink foam came spurting out of the nozzle. Yes! Bird-boy shoots, he scores! I crowed as I caught several people on the head. They all stopped and started yelling and complaining. With my superior vision, I spotted Rachel with a piece of paper over her head, making her way calmly through the crowd. My mom was very confused.

Once it was empty, I dropped the can and swooped down to meet up with Rachel. She was talking to two people. I misjudged the distance, and landing in the wall. Ow, I complained as I hobbled towards Rachel and began to demorph. "Oh, hi Marco. Hi Erek."

Marco was looking like he didn't want to be there. Erek was very calmly picking pieces of silly string off of both of them. "Nice, Tobias," Marco started complaining. "You warn Rachel, but you don't warn us."

"I didn't see you," I protested. 

"It doesn't matter," Erek said. "Come on. Marco found Mi Ung."

__

Chapter Seven -- Cassie

"What is all that yelling about?" Jake demanded. We were on the other side of the evacuation bay, and people had started yelling and running. A few ran by us, and I noticed little flecks of pink foam in their air. 

"Someone's playing a practical joke, that's all," I sighed. 

There you three are!

Elfangor! Ax cried.

"Elfangor!" Jake and I echoed.

Elfangor walked purposefully over to us. I've been looking all over for you. Elysia's been completely evacuated, but I'm having a hard time finding people. The virus is almost on top of the community. I don't think it'll break through here, though, thank goodness, so we might have time. Where's Tobias?

"Haven't a clue," Jake lied.

"No idea," I answered.

I haven't seen him, Ax bluffed.

Elfangor didn't look entirely convinced. He focused his eyes -- all four of them -- on us. Then he shrugged. Loren will probably find him, then. Now. Would you mind telling me why Elysia's force field was attacked by a bunch of "wild" animals? I have the strangest feeling that somehow, the three of you were behind that.

"Us?" Jake, Ax, and I all said at the same time. "Why would you think a thing like that?" I said innocently. He didn't buy it. He just folded his arms across his chest and glared. And trust me, Andalites can glare. They can glare really good. 

I looked at Jake. He looked back at me helplessly. Ax was shifting his weight from hoof to hoof. Then suddenly, he turned all four eyes to the sky. Hey, Elfangor, look! There's Tobias!

Elfangor looked.

Ax grabbed Jake and me and started to run in the opposite direction. Aximili! Elfangor shouted when he saw us running. But the crowd had begun to close in again, and he couldn't follow us fast enough.

We ran around the side of this one building and slowed to a jog. "Thanks, Ax," Jake said breathlessly. "I didn't know you had that in you."

Ax looked ashamed, yet slightly proud. I'm Elfangor's little brother, Prince Jake. I know how to get away from him when I want to.

Jake and I looked at each other and laughed. 

Suddenly I stumbled forward. Jake caught my arm and managed to keep me from falling. "What happened?"

"I must have tripped over loose ground or something," I said.

No, Cassie, you didn't. The ground moved. I felt it, Ax said shakily. I'm starting to get the feeling that my brother was wrong.

I was about to ask _Wrong about what?_ when I saw something digging its way through the ground. It looked like a worm. Then it got bigger and bigger, until it was about a foot out of the ground. It curled back, plunged into the ground about five inches away, and broke the ground away from the rest of the street. Right in the middle of the street, a circle five inches in diameter had just opened up.

"The virus!" Jake yelped.

Prince Jake, may I suggest running _back_ to my brother?

"Whatever you say, Ax!" Jake shouted, grabbing my hand and running. The three of us ran back the way we came, with the virus eating through concrete behind us. 

It was up to Tobias, Rachel, Marco, and Erek now.

__

Chapter Eight -- Ax

The three of us ran back into the crowd. Unfortunately, the same crowd that allowed us to escape my brother was now making it impossible to find him. "We need to get through," Prince Jake gasped. 

Allow me, I said. Changing to open thought-speak, I shouted, Hey, everyone, listen up! The three of us need to get to my brother, Prince Elfangor, and unless you all want to be crushed to the size of Cheetos, I'd suggest getting out of the way. We've got a virus!

That got the crowd moving, and fortunately moving in the right direction. The three of us were swept up in it as people started running. 

"This is a side of you I've never seen before, Ax," Prince Jake said as the crowd started pushing us.

A hand reached out and grabbed me by the shoulder. Prince Jake and Cassie were pulled over a second later. Indeed it isn't, Elfangor snapped. What has gotten into you? Panicking everyone like that? This isn't a joking matter!

"It's no joke," Cassie said quickly. "The virus really _has_ crossed over, and it's already beginning to destroy this community. We saw it."

"Cassie almost fell into it," Prince Jake added. 

Elfangor looked at me. This is true? he demanded.

I nodded. 

Loren suddenly came pushing through the crowd. "I just had a long chat with Mi Ung. Apparently, Tobias, Marco, Rachel, and some boy I've never heard of named Erek have already gone on to the sixth ring. Something's going on here."

You better believe it, Elfangor said. The virus has already made it to this ring. We're going to have to start another evacuation.

"This one will take even longer!" Loren protested. "We'll never get everyone through."

Elfangor, Loren, I said.

"What?" 

What?

There is a reason the others went ahead. We have figured out a plan to stop the virus, and it involves going to the Ellimist for help. Tobias is the only one of us who has even started to begin understanding this thing. It's a computer virus, I replied. Therefore, the others are going to download an anti-virus program into the computer virus itself, and to do that, they need to go to the center of the afterworld.

"What makes you think the Ellimist is going to help?" Loren asked.

"He's interfered with our lives so much," Prince Jake said, "that he owes us a few favors."

"Yeah," Cassie agreed.

It is up to Tobias, Marco, Rachel, and Erek to stop the virus. But we must try to contain it. We need Marco's mother, I said. The information she has might help us do just that.

"Laura and Devone are at the second evacuation bay," Loren said. "I'll go get them."

Elfangor shook his head. Just Laura. Tell Devone to get out of here. This isn't his fight.

Suddenly a loud crack filled the air. The virus had started to demolish one of the buildings only about fifteen feet from us. "Let's take this to another location," Prince Jake said hurriedly. 

I'll second -- oh, no. 

What? I turned to look at my brother. Oh, no. Prince Jake? I believe we may be trapped.

The virus was not only ripping through the earth behind us, it was no in front of us, and beginning to push through entirely from the other ring. "This way!" Loren shouted from the evacuation bays, where she was standing with Laura. "We have to outrun it."

Jake and Cassie were already hurriedly morphing to horses. Let's run! Elfangor shouted. 

With a virus on either side of us, we began to run.

__

Chapter Nine -- Erek

"Will you hurry up?" Marco complained. "Come on, come on! We don't have much time."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm moving as fast as I can. How many more of these portals do we have to go through before we make it to the Ellimist?"

"You expect me to know that?" Marco asked. "I thought you knew!" 

"Me? How would I know? I've never even _heard_ of this place before."

"Be quiet, both of you," Tobias snapped irritably. "I know where we're going."

"Oh," Marco and I said at the same time. 

We were on the sixth ring, and hurrying towards the next portal, where we would meet Calliope, a psychic Mi Ung had referred us to. I was seeing a lot of unusual things in this world, the most unusual being the fact that so many species were working together and not fighting. 

"How many portals do we have to go through, anyway?" I asked.

Tobias shrugged. "That I don't know."

Marco and I groaned. "Great."

"Hey, it's not like I've done this before!"

Rachel growled. "Will all three of you keep it down? We're going to --"

That was when the entire world changed. "Whoa," Marco said, his voice echoing in the silence. We were standing in complete blackness. "Okay, what's going on?" 

really, marco, i would've thought you'd guess by now.

"Ellimist," we all said at the same time.

"You've known we were trying to find you all this time, haven't you?" Tobias asked.

yes.

"Then why have you waited until now to show yourself to us?" Rachel snapped.

patience is a great virtue, rachel. anyway, i'm not allowed to interfere with the lives of --

"Oh, cut the crap, Ellimist," Marco sneered. "The 'I'm not allowed to interfere with the affairs of other species' deal is a bunch of BS and you know it."

"Great, Marco, make him mad," I muttered.

ahem. as i was saying, i'm not allowed to interfere with the lives of _the dead_. they're lives are mostly in crayak's hands. i merely keep an eye on the good points. 

Marco looked like he was about to complain again, so I reached over and clamped my hand over his mouth. "Ellimist, we don't really care about that. Just tell us what you want."

thank you, erek. i've been following your plan, and i must say, it's a good one. but there is now a slight flaw. crayak has found out your plan, and has multiplied the virus. there is one in the after-realm. and there is one in the true-realm. 

"Are you saying _living_ people are now in danger?" Rachel asked.

yes. this has been crayak's plan all along. you're plan has merely caused him to speed things up. therefore, in order for your anti-virus program to work, you must place yourself in both the after-realm and the true-realm. you must enter a place now being, living or dead, has been in before. 

"What exactly is this place?" Tobias demanded.

it is the place beyond reality. a place of memories and dreams. in order for the program to succeed, you must journey to this place. it will be dangerous. it will be painful. but it is nessessary to succeed. 

"Then I guess we don't have any choice," Tobias said. He looked at the rest of us. "I'm going."

"I need to go, too," I reminded them.

"I'm not letting you do this without me, Tobias," Rachel said quickly. 

Marco rolled his eyes and sighed. "What, like I'm going to let Xena get the better of me again?"

"She always gets the better of you, Marco," Tobias muttered. I smiled. 

Marco gave Tobias the evil eye, then sighed. "Okay, Ellimist. Tell us what we need to know."

in this world, things are as you make them, not as they appear to be. you will see things that people create, you will see memories of tragedy, and memories of happiness. it is a living dream, essentially. as you travel through to the core of this world, you must rely on your heart and soul, not on your mind. 

"Oh, yeah, that tells us a lot," Marco sighed. "Well, can we tell Jake where we're going first? He's going to be --"

Suddenly the blackness disappeared.

__

Chapter Ten -- Laura

Get down! Elfangor shouted, running over and shoving me to the ground just before I got smacked in the head with a tentacle. We hit the ground hard. 

We'd been dodging the virus for almost half an hour, moving deeper and deeper through the territory. The virus never seemed to tire. Unfortunately, we _did_.

"What exactly is this plan of yours?" I demanded when we all ducked behind a large outcropping of rock. 

Jake peered over the rocks, then ducked back down. Another tentacle snaked over our heads and smacked the wall in front of us. A large crack appeared where the tentacle hit. "It's kind of complicated. Actually, Marco and Tobias figured out most of it."

Basically, we're trying to download an anti-viral program into this thing, like a computer, so that it'll destroy itself. Ax had his stalk eyes trained over the rocks, but he kept bringing them back around so he could look at all of us. It was a strange sight. I've never liked Andalites much -- I used to think they were all like Visser Three's host, whom I've been shoved into a cage with when we're on the mother ship more than once (Alloran's kind of crazy) -- but Ax and Elfangor weren't bad. 

Another tentacle hit the wall. "It doesn't seem to be penetrating our little rock wall," I said.

Cassie looked worriedly up at the wall in front of us. It was part of a large cliff. "This one is holding up, but another couple of hits to the large one and it's going to come tumbling down on top of us."

Great, Ax muttered. Buried alive.

Elfangor glanced at his brother. I've never heard you sound so cynical before, little brother.

Ax ducked as another tentacle shot over his head. Yeah, well, I've learned a few things. One is to never be optimistic.

"He's been listening to Marco and Tobias too much," Jake muttered.

I looked at Jake. "What's that mean?" 

"Never mind."

Suddenly Loren looked over the side of rock wall. "Hey, you guys? I think it's gone."

One by one we peered over the side. Where'd it go? Ax whispered.

Elfangor stood up. It left, he said. It must have.

Ax reached up and grabbed his brother's shoulder, pulling him down. what did I just say about optimism? Even if it did leave, it'll be back. And we can't head back to the community. We don't know how weak that ground is.

So what are you saying? Elfangor demanded. We just sit here and wait?

"This thing is Yeerk origin, with a little help from Crayak," I said. "It's smart. But I've never known it to retreat from something."

"So we wait," Loren sighed.

Jake reached out and grasped Cassie's hand. "Yeah. We wait and hope to God that Marco and the others make it. Otherwise . . ."

We're toast, Ax finished.

Toast? Elfangor repeated. 

Loren laughed. "Elfangor, you've got a lot to learn."

I glanced up at the sky, hoping for some sign. _Be careful, Marco._

Chapter Eleven -- Marco

"Well, can we just tell Jake where we're going first? He's going to be --"

Suddenly everything around us changed. I cut myself off and stared. So did Erek, Tobias, and Rachel.

We were in the strangest place in the entire known universe. 

There were clocks all over the place. In the sky there was masses of lines, all connecting and twisting and tying together. Then there were boxes containing little pictures on them -- hundreds of pictures that you practically need a microscope to be able to see. Some boxes were big, others were really tiny. And somewhere in all this mess was a large, glowing, pulsing white light that we couldn't see the source of.

"What is this place?" Rachel whispered. Her voice echoed a little.

it is the abyss. 

"And once again that explains a lot," I muttered sarcastically. "The Abyss. What _is_ an abyss, anyway?"

"An abyss is any immeasurably profound depth or void, an unfathomable chasm or a yawning gulf. Sometimes known as primeval chaos, commonly described as a bottomless pit or hell," Erek answered immediately, without even thinking about it. We stared at him. 

"Thank you, Webster," I said. "Do you memorize the dictionary or something?"

Erek shrugged. "I had to do _something_ during the Great Depression."

Sometimes we forget that Erek is a million-year-old android who's witnessed every mass destruction event in Earth's history aside from the death of dinosaurs (but he does know about it, because we've been able to describe it to him -- and that's a story I really don't want to go into right now). Other times, he gives us so much information that we just want to strangle him -- only we don't because none of us are strong enough to strangle an android, and even if we could, it wouldn't be fair since Erek can't defend himself.

Besides which, Erek is just a very handy person to have around most times, and he's saved our lives. It's very hard to think about killing the person who has saved your life.

"Hell," Tobias muttered under his breath. "Now I'm _really_ looking forward to this."

"We need to find the core," Rachel said, reminding the three of us that we all had a task to do. "If you three are done chatting, let's get to it."

So we started to walk.

A few minutes later, we were still walking.

And after half an hour, just for a change of pace, we walked some more. I was getting bored, and when I get bored, I start to complain. 

"We are never going to find it," I whined. "We're going to be stuck going around in circles for the rest of our lives, while a big old computer virus the size of King Kong tears apart our universe."

__

"While a big old computer virus the size of King Kong tears apart our universe."

I spun around. "Who said that?"

__

"Who said that?"

"Stop it!"

__

"Stop it!"

This is getting really annoying.

__

"This is getting really annoying."

My eyes widened and I was about ready to start shouting when Rachel grabbed my arm. "_You're_ saying that, Marco. That's your voice. But it's coming from . . . over there." She was pointing at a cluster of boxes near by. Some of the boxes were blank. Others were flashing rapidly. And still others, more than any thing else, were frozen in place. One box pulsated every time I spoke.

"How can a box talk?"

The box glowed. _"How can a box talk?"_

Cautiously, I approached the glowing box. I reached down and tried to touch it, but there was some sort of invisible wrapping around. Instead, I knelt down. Tobias, Rachel, and Erek crowded around me. "What is it?" Rachel whispered.

The box was spinning slowly. There were hundreds of little pictures. I reached out and tapped one. Suddenly, an image filled the entire side, like a little movie. I stared as I recognized the movie.

It was the day I first met Jake. There I was, sitting in the middle of the living with my mom, wearing a diaper and a shirt. I must have been about one and a half. I was playing with a pile of blocks when the door bell rang. I noticed that there were lots of unopened boxes, and there was barely any furniture.

My mom, much younger than, got up and answered the door. Another woman walked in carrying some sort of food. I -- baby me, not me now -- glanced up, then went back to building a tower out of blocks. 

A minute later, little Jake came wandering over. He was wearing a little pair of overalls and walking unsteadily on his feet. I remembered that I could only crawl then. Jake sat down a little ways from me and watched me build a bigger tower. 

Suddenly my tower wobbled and fell. I started to whimper, getting ready to work myself up to a good cry, when Jake reached out and handed me a block that had fallen near him. I looked at it, took it, and placed it on the floor. Jake put another one on top of it. Jake's been my best friend ever since.

"Wow," Tobias breathed. "This is your life."

I nodded, too surprised to say anything. "It's all my memories. The time I met Jake. My first day of school. Being born, even though I can't really recall that. All stored here."

"Look at this one," Erek said. It was one of the frozen boxes. I tapped a picture.

"Hey, it's my great-grandmother!" I exclaimed. "My mother's grandmother. She died when my mom was still pregnant with me. I never knew, but I saw pictures. Her memories must have stopped when she died."

Tobias stood up and looked around. "I bet if we looked, we could find the memories of every single one of us, even you , Erek. And I bet we could find Jake's, and Cassie's, and Ax's, and my mom and my dad's, too."

"The boxes seemed to be in a pattern," Erek commented. "In groups."

He was right. It seemed like the huge pile were standing by was my family. As the boxes became more spread out, so did my family line. My mother's box was touching one corner of mine, and my father's was touching the other. Then they branched out, and so on and so on. "Cool. This place doesn't look so intimidating now that we can actually make some sense out of it."

Rachel was looking at something over my shoulder. "Uh, Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"Run."

"Huh?"

She pointed behind my shoulder. "_Run!_"

I spun around and found myself staring at the biggest bear I have ever seen. It was three times as big as Rachel's grizzly bear morph. 

__

Rrrooooarrrraagggh!

We ran.

__

Chapter Twelve -- Rachel

Normally, I wouldn't run from a bear. I mean, I've _been_ a bear. I can become a grizzly. But this thing was too big, even for me. It was about the size of an elephant!

"Is it my imagination, or is it getting bigger?" Erek demanded, glancing over his shoulder.

Tobias, who isn't in very good shape, was breathing heavily. He shook his head. "No, it's not getting bigger. Just faster."

"Too fast," Marco muttered. "We need to pick up the pace a little!"

I looked back over my shoulder and saw the bear racing towards us like an overgrown freight train. Then I looked in the direction I was running. "Those box piles," I shouted. "If we can reach them, they might slow him down a little. Somehow I doubt he can run through them. There are just too many."

Marco and Tobias were behind Erek and me by a couple feet, and they were losing ground fast. Marco kept looking over his shoulder. "This is like a nightmare come true for me!" he shouted as the bear tried to bite his head off. Fortunately, Marco's so small, he can dodge things easily. He's extremely agile. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"One of my nightmare's is that Rachel figures out some way to do both the bear and the elephant at the same time," Marco explained in a halting voice. "We've got a bear the size of an elephant here. This isn't . . . hey." He stopped running. "It's stopped."

Tobias, Erek, and I slowed to a stop and turned around. Sure enough, the bear was pacing back and forth in a line about eight feet from Marco. Every once in awhile, it stopped and pawed at the air in front of it. But it didn't come closer. "It's like some kind of force field or something," Erek muttered.

Tobias laughed. "That's it! This bear _is_ from Marco's nightmare. That area we just ran through -- it's tied directly to Marco. The bear can't go beyond it. We must have crossed over into someone else's life."

"Okay," Marco said. "That made zero sense, but since Bird-boy's the only one who even has a slightest clue, let's just go with what he said."

"So who's life are we in now?" I wondered.

"Who cares?" Marco snapped. "Let's just get out of here and find that center."

"Marco, shut up," I growled. "Right now, that bear is blocking our way to the center. We're heading back the way we came from. We need to figure out some way to get past the bear."

"Who cares about the bear?" Marco exploded. "That virus could be tearing through . . ." Suddenly Marco's eyes glazed over. He closed them briefly, than opened them. ". . . the fifth ring by now. Jake and the others might not even be alive."

"What happened?" Erek asked.

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"You blanked out," I answered. "You stopped speaking, then a minute later you picked up exactly where you left off. Are you going to try and tell us you don't know what we're talking about?"

"Actually, yeah," Marco argued. "I didn't blank out. I think I would . . ." He closed his eyes again. ". . . know."

"You did it again," Tobias muttered.

"No, I didn't!" Marco protested.

"Yes, you did," I snapped. "You blanked out. Is it some kind of psychic side effect or something?" I almost laughed. I still didn't really believe that Marco was psychic. It just didn't seem possible that his brain worked at a higher level than the rest of ours did. Not Marco. 

"I'm telling you, I didn't . . . " For the third time, Marco's eyes glazed over. He closed his eyes. I looked at Tobias, waiting patiently for him to snap out of it so that he could continue his sentence, when suddenly Marco's tan skin turned about three shades whiter than white. Without warning, his legs collapsed out from under him, and he hit the ground. 

Erek dashed forward and knelt by him. He grabbed Marco's wrist. "He's in shock."

__

Chapter Thirteen -- Tobias

"He's in shock?" I repeated.

Erek nodded. "I've got a pulse, but it's faint. And his breathing is shallow. Something's wrong."

"Anybody here know what to do when a psychic goes into shock?" Rachel wondered.

Erek looked at us skeptically. "A psychic?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Turns out Marco's bran is a lot bigger than we give him credit for. He's psychic."

"I used to know a Pemalite who believed she had the power of the Third Eye," Erek murmured. "Nothing like this ever happened to her, though."

Rachel knelt down next to Marco, who's eyes were closed and skin was very pale. Sweat gleamed on his skin. "He doesn't look very good," she whispered. "What do we do?"

Erek shook his head ruefully. "Believe me, Rachel -- if I knew, I'd tell you. But I'm a computer. A very old, very smart computer, but still nevertheless a computer. I don't deal with psychics and stuff."

Rachel looked frustrated. "Tobias, your mother is psychic -- do you know anything?"

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, Rachel, how would I? I just met my mother, like, two days ago. We haven't exactly had a chance to chat. Anyway, I'm going to emphasize that it's my _mother_ who's psychic, _not_ me."

Rachel gave me a wounded look. I don't usually snap at her. "Sorry," she muttered. "I was just trying to help."

Immediately I was ashamed. "I'm the one who should be sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to snap at you. No, I don't know anything helpful. Maybe if we looked around for a minute, we could find something useful."

"There's probably a hint near Marco's memory box," Erek said.

"Big bear," Rachel and I said at the same time. 

"Right," Erek said, quickly discarding that idea. Nervously, I glanced back at the bear. He had decided to lie down and take a nap until we returned to that area. He looked like he had all the time in the world. 

"What I wouldn't give for an Ellimist to answer some questions right now," I muttered under my breath. 

yes?

"Whoa -- oa -- oa!" I shouted, almost jumping several feet into the air. "Do you _enjoy_ doing that, or is it written in the Ellimist's Guide to Several Ticking People Off?"

Rachel and Erek looked at me. "What?" I defended myself. "Marco's unconscious right now -- somebody's got to fill in." They shrugged.

ha ha ha. extremely hilarious, tobias. i sense that the three of you are worried about marco.

"Don't say you're psychic, too," I pleaded. "There's just one too many people around here that are."

no, i'm not psychic. just all-powerful, and all-knowing, too.

"You forgot All-Modest," Rachel interrupted.

do you want my help or not?

We quickly fell silent.

marco is experiencing psycations -- psychic hallusinatons. it's a side effect and affects powerful psychics who unknowingly tap into too much power before they are ready. in order for them to come out of the psycation, another psychic needs to enter their subconsciousness and free them from their own thoughts.

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

"And I thought Ax was hard to understand."

in other words, you need another psychic in order for marco to wake up.

"That we don't have," Rachel snapped. "Can you actually be helpful for once, please? Answer a question. Will Marco die?"

no. right now, he's in hibernation. he will not die, unless someone kills him.

"Okay. So he should be safe until we get that virus killer program into the system," Rachel said. "Now, one last question. How do we _get_ that virus killer program into the system."

things are not always what they seem. remember that, and you shall be free to move about wherever you please in the abyss.

"Didn't he say that before?" I wondered. No answer. "Hey, Ellimist, you still there?" No answer. "Great."

"Things are not always what they seem. What does that mean?" Erek asked.

"Hell if I know," Rachel snapped. "I'm not the all-powerful, all-knowing, cryptic-talking blue guy who keeps interfering but claims not to."

I was staring at the bear. And suddenly, I had an idea.

"Hey, guys, listen up," I said.

__

Chapter Fourteen -- Loren

I woke up suddenly. 

"Huh?" I murmured, wiping the sleep out of my eyes. It was dark out -- night must have fallen, and we were all asleep. Elfangor was resting peacefully beside me. Cassie and Jake were curled up next to each other, holding hands. Ax was sleeping, but also shifting his position uncomfortably every few minutes. 

"Good morning -- or evening, or however you want to say it," Laura said. I guess we weren't _all_ asleep, after all. 

I yawned. "How long was I out for?"

"About five hours," she replied. "I've been keeping watch -- there's no way I can get any sleep."

"Too worried?" I asked.

"I guess," she said, running a hand through her long black hair. "I mean, it's not everyday you find out your only son has been fighting the same interstellar war that you have, only on the other side. Kind of like the Civil War. Brother against brother, father against son, that sort of deal."

I nodded. "I know what you mean. At least Marco talked to you when he saw you. Tobias just basically stared at the table. Then he yelled at me. Then we got sucked into a Bug fighter."

Laura frowned. "I heard a bit about that, but I wasn't sure if I was hearing things correctly. Who was in charge of that Bug fighter?"

"I'm not sure . . . it's hard to remember, and besides, they all died . . . I think they called him Visser Six?"

Laura turned pale. "Visser _Six_? Oh. Oh, no. Not good. That is not good. We're in even more trouble than I thought."

"Why?" 

"Visser Six headed up the whole Neutro-Virus project. It was his idea to begin with. And it was his idea to test it on the afterworld, instead of the trueworld, like some hot-headed Vissers wanted," Laura said. She was talking very quickly. "However -- and this part was top secret, I only know it thanks to a YPM spy -- in the effect of Visser Six's death, someone else would be given the project. Vissers Four and Five can't, since they openly disliked the idea. So it would go to the next Visser."

"Three," I said.

She nodded. "Visser Three, according to Mifky 234 (another spy), wanted the virus to be tested in the after world, he expressed this vocally. Very vocally, in fact. But what the Council doesn't know, and Mifky only barely managed to pass on to Nemu and me, is that Visser Three also wants the test it on the true world. And with the help of Crayak, he can."

"So what you're saying is --"

"What I'm saying is that the reason the virus fell back is because Visser Three has drawn much of it into the true world. As we speak, it is tearing up not only these communities, but our universe as well."

"Why would the Yeerks want to destroy something they want to take over?" I asked, confused.

"The virus' programming can be changed. That's probably why it's been so silent. It'll be back -- and this time, there'll be no stopping it. There's no way the information Nemu gave me could even contain it, even if we have the correct materials." Laura was shaking visibly. "Oh, this isn't good. This is not good."

Elfangor was starting to stir, probably awakened thanks to Laura's talking. I started to reach over to tap him on the shoulder when a tremor went through my body. I pulled away from him, spun around and looked over the wall at the pock-marked land. 

A crack of lightning shot down from somewhere, and where it hit, a figure appeared.

"I didn't blank out!" He sounded like he was finishing at sentence. "Huh? Hey, what happened?"

Who . . .? Elfangor was just now waking up, and sounding very groggy.

"It's Marco," I gasped. He heard me and looked over. 

"Hey, everyone. What the hell happened here?"

__

Chapter Fifteen -- Marco

"Okay. Now I'm really confused." I was sitting between Jake and my mom behind a small rock wall, where apparently Mom, Loren, Jake, Cassie, Ax, and Elfangor had been hiding for the past six or seven hours. 

"You're confused?" Jake laughed. "Try considering how we feel. This is the craziest thing I've ever heard of. Marco's in some sort of strange dimension that no one's ever heard of, when he collapses and suddenly shows up here? Meanwhile, he's still there?"

"It's called psycations," Loren said patiently. 

"Anyway, what do you mean, this is the craziest thing you've ever heard of?" I demanded. "What about the time when the Ellimist offered us a chance to go live on another planet?"

"Or the time we were all shrunk down so much that a flea looked like a horse?" Cassie asked.

Or the time when we followed Horse-Controllers into Zone 91, only to find out that it was housing an Andalite waste disposal system? Ax added. 

Jake thought for a minute. "Then there was the time when we morphed squid, got into the Pemalite ship using the code '6', and the ship kept being super-friendly. You're right. I _have_ heard of crazier things. But this is going right on that list."

Mom, Loren, and Elfangor were looking at us like we were nuts. Well, Elfangor said uncertainly, you've certainly had some strange moments, haven't you?

I laughed. "Elfangor, our entire lives have been strange moments from the second you showed up and said, 'Hey kids, wanna turn into animals?'"

That's not exactly what I said, Elfangor muttered. 

"Are we just slightly off the subject here?" Mom asked. "We need to figure out a way to stop the virus."

Suddenly I remembered the others. "Already on that, Mom. As we speak, Erek, Tobias, and Rachel are trying to get to the center of that dimension to download a program that will hopefully destroy the virus in both worlds."

"Trying?" Loren repeated. "You mean they haven't done it yet?"

"Nope. Last I knew, we were being chased by a big grizzly bear."

"Why should that worry you guys?" Cassie asked. "Rachel's got a grizzly morph."

"A grizzly bear the size of an elephant," I added.

"Oh."

Suddenly Loren looked straight at me. "Marco?" she asked. "Did you feel something?"

Here we go again, Elfangor muttered.

I started to answer no, when a chill swept through my entire body, followed by a wave of heat. "Yes," I replied, but no sooner had I done that then . . . 

FLASH!

__

Big. Half-machine. No head. Eye. Big red eye. Crayak.

FLASH! 

__

A centaur-like body. Scythe blade on the tail. Four eyes, two on stalks. Visser Three.

I opened my eyes. Loren was coming out of a trance. "What is it?" Jake asked.

"They're coming," I said shakily. "Visser Three and Crayak."

"They're going to take over the Ellimists' Realm," Loren finished. 

"You have got to be kidding," Jake said flatly.

I wanted to agree with him. One thing I've learned, though -- you never joke about Visser Three and Crayak.

Rachel, Tobias, and Erek were trapped between dimensions. If the Realm was destroyed, then they would have no chance of returning. Only the Ellimist could do that. 

Why couldn't this stupid psycation end?!

__

It took me a while to finish, but I finally did it! I'm hoping to finish up parts 8, 9, and 10 before school starts at the end of August, but if I don't, don't sue me! I'll get them done as soon as possible!

Don't miss Part 8 of the Elysia Wars: Into the Abyss


	8. Default Chapter Title

****

The Elysia Wars #8 Into the Abyss

__

Chapter One -- Visser Three

Enter.

Toro 823 entered my quarters. His stood tall and saluted. "Sir, you have a message from the netherworld."

Leave. Toro hurried out of my chambers. I sighed and queued the Z-Space transmitter. Yes, what do you want?

"Visser Three, I presume." 

There was no face attached to these words. Just a voice, speaking them in a sing-song way. Who is this? I demanded.

The voice laughed. "Perhaps I should be asking the same of you. Are you Visser Three? Are you Esplin nine-four-double six? Are you Alloran-Semitur-Corass? Who are any of us?"

I demand you to show yourself! I roared. 

Something stepped out of my wall. 

"Is this better?" the thing asked, grinning maniacally. 

Who are you? I demanded of this green, misshapen thing.

"My master refers to me simply as . . . Drode," Drode said, walking slowly in a circle around me. "My master is not a patient person, so really, let's stop this chit-chat, eh?"

He was really beginning to irritate me. I had known him for less than five minutes, and already he was irritating me almost as much as those bothersome Andalite bandits.

Almost. 

What do you want?

"So straightforward, aren't we?" Drode tsked. "Really, I would've thought one of my master's prized playing pieces would be much more understanding that things can't be explained so easily."

Prized playing pieces? What was I, a chess pawn? I grow tired of this, Drode. Explain your purpose here before I explain it for you! I held my tail up for emphasis.

Drode stepped back slightly. "Okay, okay. Look -- to make a long story short, have you ever heard of Crayak? Of course you have. He's the guy who runs the whole wastelands of the netherworld. Anyway, Crayak heard of this remarkable virus you've got, and what with the death of Visser Six and the disappearance of the traitor Nemu, well, you've got yourself a deadly weapon, eh?"

I had heard of Crayak, a little -- he interested me. Go on, I said, lowering my tail a bit.

"Well, Crayak's glad you're testing that virus on the golden communities and all, but he knows that's not what you really want. You want to use the virus to rewrite the universe." Drode smirked. "He can do it for you. He just needs you to do one teensy, weensy little thing."

I'm listening.

"See, there's this guy who runs the Golden Community of Elysia. Somehow, he managed to escape that community just before the Neutro-Virus came, and he's now hiding out in another community that the Ellimist is blocking from destruction. Crayak wants to send you -- and few of your most trusted personnel (along with some dead ones of his choice) -- to this place and basically, well, _kill_ this guy. See, once he's dead, he'll go over to Crayak's side, and everyone will be very happy." Drode looked at me. "You'll also have a major edge -- since you're not dead, he won't be able to fight back."

I looked at him. And if I destroy this person, then Crayak will change the universe so that Yeerks shall win?

"And you'll be the Supreme Ruler of them all," Drode added. "That's the deal."

Who's the person I'm being sent after?

Drode grinned maliciously. "None other than the Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul."

Elfangor? Alive in the netherworld? Tell your boss he's got himself an assassin. 

Drode smirked triumphantly. 

__

Chapter Two -- Erek

"It's been two hours," I muttered, "and we're still sitting."

"Geez, Erek, since when are you so impatient?" Tobias said, tossing a rock in the direction of the bear. The rock bounced off the strange force field.

Rachel smacked him on the shoulder. "I am, too, Tobias. So watch it. You said you had a plan, and all you've been doing the past two hours is throw _rocks_ at the stupid thing. Rocks that don't even hit it."

"Exactly," Tobias said. Then he went right back to throwing rocks.

Rachel moved over and sat down next to me. "I don't get it," I said.

"Me, neither," Rachel agreed. "Tobias doesn't usually come up with plans, but when he does, they're good ones. Maybe this abyss is affecting his brain or something."

"Let's hope not," I muttered. Then I changed the subject. "How is he?" I pointed at Marco.

Rachel sighed. "Still out cold. The color's coming back in his skin, though, and his pulse is returning to normal. Those are good signs, I think. But I'm not M. D. Jake would probably know better than I would -- his dad's a doctor."

"How do you think they're doing?"

"Jake and the others?" I nodded. "Oh, I don't know. I keep thinking about that virus. What if it catches up to them or something? Even worse, what if it hits Earth?" She shrugged. "I just feel so helpless."

I started to say something, when suddenly Tobias stood up. "Hah!" he crowed. "Hah ha!"

Rachel and I looked at him like he was crazy. "Shut up, you idiot," Rachel hissed. "Do you want anything else to hear you? What happened?"

"The rock," Tobias said. He grabbed another one. "Watch." He threw the rock.

It flew through the air, same as the first three hundred. But just before it hit the barrier, it _changed_. It grew bigger. It still hit the barrier, and it still hit the ground, but it was a bigger rock. "Wow," I breathed. "How did you do that?"

"I was thinking about what the Ellimist said. You know, how things aren't what they appear to be. I once read a book -- I forget what it was called -- where these people entered this place where they could change the shape or size of something just by thinking about it. So I thought, maybe that's what's going on here." Tobias threw another rock, and it also grew large. This one hit just above the bear's head. He still didn't wake up. 

"So what's the rest of your plan?" Rachel asked.

"Well," Tobias said, jumping off the platform he was standing on. "I was thinking: if it worked for the rock, why wouldn't it work for the bear?"

__

Chapter Three -- Tobias

I looked at Rachel and Erek to see their reactions to what I was saying. For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then they glanced at the rocks that I had enlarged. "You know," Erek said slowly, "it just might work."

"First, we need to get into the same area as the bear," I said. "I tried changing some things in there from here, and it didn't work. Actually, only I need to go."

Rachel shook her head. "Someone should go with you. We need one person to stay here, with Marco, and the other to go watch your back."

"I need to go anyway," Erek said. "You stay with Marco. I'll go with Tobias."

"Are you sure about this, Rachel?" I asked softly. I didn't want her to be unsure about staying behind. I knew I'd worry about her too much.

She smiled softly. "I'll be fine. You two better get going. We don't have much more time."

I nodded, and Erek and I cautiously crept over where the bear lay. It occurred to me too late that Erek might not be the best person to protect me. He couldn't even protect himself if it came down to a fight. His programming would be too afraid of hurting the people or things trying to kill us.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered as we stepped into the bear's area.

Immediately the bear raised his head. He hadn't been sleeping after all. He sniffed the air a few times, then managed to climb to his feet easily. He turned towards us. I knew Rachel was watching the fight, but I also knew there was nothing she could do. Erek stood defiantly where he was, but it was me the bear was really interested in. Erek just didn't smell like something he'd want to eat. 

I tried to focus my mind on the mental picture of the bear changing size. In my mind, I pictured him shrinking down to the size of a kitten. 

"Tobias, look."

I opened my eyes just in time to see the bear doing exactly that: shrinking to the size of a kitten. There was just one difference from what I wanted and what the abyss decided to do. The bear not only became the size of a kitten, it also changed _into_ a kitten. "Ooops," I laughed. "I guess it took my suggestion too literally."

Erek grinned at the baby cat. "Woof," he said in a pretty good imitation of a dog. 

The cat freaked. He whirled around, tried to run, and smacked head first into the barrier. He recovered, and ran in the opposite direction. I glanced over at Rachel, who was laughing. "Be careful, you two," she called a moment later. "I don't want to have to come after you and save your butts."

I rolled my eyes and told Rachel we'd be fine.

"This way, Tobias," Erek said, motioning to the bright light in the distance. "We don't have much time."

__

Chapter Four -- Jake

Are you two sure about this? Elfangor demanded. Loren and Marco had just given us disturbing news that Visser Three and Crayak were both on their way to the Golden Communities. 

"Absolutely," Marco and Loren said in one breath. "You can't really mistake a psychic vision for anything but the truth," Loren added.

"Yeah, what she said," Marco agreed quickly. 

"When are they supposed to get here?" I asked.

Marco shrugged. "Like I know. All I know is they're coming. Isn't that good enough for you?"

Why are they coming? Elfangor asked.

Loren rolled her eyes. "What to we look like, an encyclopedia? All we know is what the vision tells us. All the vision told us is that they're coming, and that they're going to try and take over the Ellimists' Realm."

"Are you sure you didn't see anything else?" I asked.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Cassie said. She rarely raises her voice. "Will the two of you lay off? They've told you what they can. I'm sure that if Marco and Loren knew anything else, they'd tell you!"

I let out a deep sigh. "We're just making sure we're not missing anything."

"You _aren't_," Marco snapped irritably. "Besides, in my opinion, Visser Three and the Big Red Eye are the least of our problems. In case you've forgotten, Rachel, Tobias, Erek, and my body are still trapped between dimensions. We've got to get them out."

We can't get them out until they destroy the virus, Ax reminded us. 

"What happened to the virus, anyway?" Laura wondered. "We haven't seen it for several hours."

I started to feel really uneasy. The fact that we had lost track of the virus wasn't making me too comfortable. "I wonder if its sudden disappearance has anything to do with the arrival of Visser Three."

If it does, than the Visser is coming real soon, Elfangor said. Tell me, has he gotten any nicer since we last met?

"_Nicer?_" Ax, Cassie, Marco, Laura, and I echoed incredulously.

"I think that answers your question," Loren said unnecessarily. 

Elfangor didn't look to happy with the answer. 

You're not afraid of the possibility of facing Visser Three, are you, Elfangor? Ax asked. He sounded as if the idea of Elfangor being afraid was ludicrous.

Elfangor coughed. Well, um, he did kill me, you know.

"He had an unfair advantage," Loren said matter-of-factly. "He attacked a helpless foe. And if I remember correctly you continued to fight him to the end. That makes you a hero. It makes him a coward."

Elfangor looked like he was about to argue, when suddenly Cassie drew in a sharp breath. "Oh, lord," she whispered.

I looked in the direction she was looking in. "What is it?" Marco asked.

"_He's _here."

No one needed to ask who _he_ was. 

__

Chapter Five -- Visser Three

I looked around the area in disgust. Everything seemed so peaceful. Well, except for the several holes in the ground, most likely left by my virus. I hate peaceful things. What's the point of living somewhere if you can't destroy something once in a while?

Figures I'd have to get sent to the land of (shudder) good, I muttered to myself. 

Now. Where was Elfangor? Drode said that Crayak would send me to wherever my arch nemesis was hiding out. 

Of course. I laughed silently to myself. That's where Elfangor was. He was hiding. Afraid to face me. Typical from a coward like him. Andalites, after all, are the biggest fools and cowards in the universe, always hiding behind their morphing technology when they get scared. Always hiding behind their insignificant laws whenever something blows up in their faces. Always hiding. 

Oh, Elfangor, I called out across the silent field. What is it humans were always saying? Oh, yes. Come out, come out, wherever you are.

Cut it out, Visser Three, a voice snapped.

I turned around, and there he was. The mighty Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. The biggest fool of them all. He looked strong. I, however, knew that how he looked didn't matter. I had the upper hand. Well, hello there, Elfangor, I said, savoring the moment of triumph. You're looking awfully well today. Awfully dead, but well just the same.

Whatever your business here is, finish it and leave.

Is that a surrender I hear? I asked. Because, see, my business is you. Destroying you, once and for all.

Elfangor laughed. He _laughed_. I narrowed my eyes. You had an unfair advantage last time we met, Visser.

Now it was my turn to laugh, and I loaded it with as much loathe and contempt that I possibly could. You don't seem to realize what kind of predicament you've gotten yourself into, do you? I gloated. In case you haven't realized -- I'm _not_ dead. Which means that _you_ don't stand a chance.

Elfangor was already getting himself into a fighting position. Full of it, aren't you?

I snorted. Well, wouldn't you be if you knew there was absolutely no chance of you losing?

He didn't say anything. I gave him credit for it. But then, Elfangor always had known when he was defeated. 

Suddenly I turned to face him completely. Even talk, I snarled. You're mine, Elfangor! I leapt forward, lashing out with my tail. It arched over in a perfect line for his neck . . . when at the last second he completely dodged my blow.

Arrggh! I roared, spinning around to face him. He made a weak attempt at trying to knock my legs out from under me -- I guess he didn't realize that he couldn't even touch me. 

I lashed out again, this time faking towards his neck but aiming for his leg. My tail struck, and a long gash appeared down the side of his flank. It was satisfying hearing him cry out in pain. I waited for the strike I knew he would give me in retaliation. I remembered something I had picked up from my host's mind years ago -- Elfangor always shifted his weight to his hind leg before attacking with his tail. I kept my gaze on his leg. 

Suddenly . . . 

FWAPP! FWAPP! FWAPP!

Three quick strikes came out of nowhere. I managed to dodge two of them, but the last one cut right through my arm, severing all feeling from my body. The arm was still there . . . but it was useless. 

What? I gaped incredulously at the Andalite in front of me. How did you do that?

The Andalite stared smugly down at me. I do a pretty good imitation of my brother, don't I? he asked. There's just one difference -- I'm not dead.

__

Chapter Six -- Ax

I was pleased to see that Visser Three looked a little less cocky once he realized he'd been tricked into fighting an opponent who could actually fight back. All I needed to do was keep him busy until the others could get my brother to safety. 

But the Visser had other plans. 

You insignificant little pest! he roared. He leaped to his feet and in a course of one second delivered three lightning blows, each aimed at my hearts. 

SHWOOP! SHWOOP! SHWOOP! FWAPP!

I blocked each of his attacks, then countered with one to the leg. The Visser blocked it easily. You're nothing but a child, he sneered. A worthless warrior cadet. I have all the advantage here.

Before I could react, he lashed out with his tail. The blade struck me in the shoulder, and suddenly, I could no longer feel my arm. An arm for an arm, Andalite, Visser Three laughed as he backed away. And now, a life for a triumph!

My back leg was already hurting something fierce. I couldn't run away, even as he charged at me. I'd never be able to defend myself. 

Concentrate, Aximili.

The tail flashed. I closed my eyes.

SHWOOPFWAPP! FWAPP! FWAPP!

In the blink of an eye, I blocked his shot, retaliated, and delivered two more blows. When I opened my eyes, Visser Three was staggering, just barely standing up. I had hit both his front legs and his rib cage. And for the first time, he looked at me with something in his eyes other than arrogance. 

Fear. 

You may have had the fighting advantage, I said, but you forget one thing.

What? he snarled.

I may be a child, but I was born an Andalite. You merely stole the body of one.

Visser Three looked at me with contempt. You're too noble to destroy me. You'd never destroy a helpless foe.

You're right, I said, lowering my tail. I wouldn't. So instead, I'll just leave you here. Crippled. You should have brought reinforcements, Visser. Crayak can't help you now.

I turned and began walking back to where my friends were waiting, leaving Visser Three barely able to stand up in the middle of the field, which was beginning to remind me of Swiss cheese. Maybe, once we got back to Earth, I'd pick some up at the deli. I was running low on cheese in my scoop. In fact . . . 

"Ax, look out!"

Prince Jake's warning came not a moment too late. I whipped my stalks eyes around just in time to see Visser Three's tail come shooting towards my head. I adjusted my balance, brought forward my tail . . . 

Ahhhh! Visser Three tried to dodge my aim for the base of his tail, but in doing so he'd made a terrible mistake. He'd put himself right in the path of my blade. He stared at me for several seconds. Then, he went limp.

I quickly pulled my blade out of his chest and stared as he slumped to the ground. Oh, my, god, I whispered. Oh god oh god oh god. What have I done? I couldn't think about the fact that I had just destroyed the Abomination. All I could think about what that I had destroyed the Andalite host as well. 

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. But I couldn't. Because of what happened next.

Visser Three's body began to glow. A small area in his head seemed brighter than the rest of the body. Then that glow died down to match the rest of him. 

What's happening? I whispered.

Then, to my shock and surprise, he began to move. Not the body, but another form inside him. An exact copy, but lighter. 

The copy moved away from the limp body and seemed to stare at it for a few minutes. Then it climbed to its feet, and turned to me. Thank you, he whispered, as if he hadn't used his voice for a long time. Thank you.

I turned to look at Elfangor, who was coming up beside me. Elfangor? I asked uncertainly.

But Elfangor could only look at the Andalite in front of us. War-Prince Alloran, he whispered, stunned. Then he swallowed and said shakily, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Alloran -- Alloran's spirit -- shook his head. It wasn't your fault, Elfangor. In fact, knocking me out was the best thing that happened to me. It taught me that there were other ways than being cold and ruthless . . . and insane. You did the right thing. You didn't know it would result in the Abomination.

I stared at Elfangor. _You_ caused the _Abomination_? I exclaimed.

__

Chapter Seven -- Elfangor

I winced at Ax's accusatory tone. I glanced down at the ground, ashamed. Yes, I whispered. Yes, I caused the Abomination.

Ax took a step away from me. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was at that moment. Suddenly Alloran grabbed his arm. It wasn't your brother's fault, young one, the war-prince said. If anything, I brought the fate upon myself.

Ax looked at him quizzically.

When I first started in the Andalite military, I was very much like your brother. Then, I was stationed on the Yeerk home world as a guard of the Andalite-Yeerk Peace and Cooperation Center. I was there the day the Yeerks turned against us -- the day Prince Seerow was disgraced.

My eyes widened. Even I hadn't known this. The others crept towards us, listening silently.

Three or four Earth years later, we received a distress message from one Aldrea-Iskillion-Falan, daughter of Seerow, from the Hork-Bajir planet. She told us that the Yeerks were there. We sent a small fleet, not believing her when she said they were there in force. We were outnumbered.

We Andalites took up housing with the Arn, a race of scientists living in the core of the planet. I was no longer a daring, eager military cadet. I had been moved up to the position of Prince, and I would do anything to prove that I could become a War-Prince. So I created a substance that would wipe out all of the Hork-Bajir, so that the Yeerks could no longer use them as shock troops.

I stared at him, knowing what was coming. You created a Quantum Virus, I said. I remember you talking about it at one point.

Alloran looked at me and nodded. I used a Quantum Virus on the planet. When the Yeerks began accusing us of using an inhumane weapon, the Electorate tried to cover it up. I was named a War-Prince shortly before we left that planet. But I was soon to be disgraced. I could keep my ship, my title, and my position in the military. But I reduced to errand work. Then one day, years later, I was told to transport two humans back to their planet, with a crew of two a_ arisths_ eager to prove themselves.

Those arisths were Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and Arbron-Latros-Ifinal. That was to be my last mission as a free soul. Alloran held my gaze for a moment, then looked back at Ax. Arbron discovered that the creatures who had kidnapped the humans from their planet, the Skrit Na, had also uncovered a dangerous weapon -- the Time Matrix. It was being taken to the Taxxon world. I plotted my ship's coordinates to that planet.

I'm not going to bore you with all the little details, but to make a long story short: Once we recovered the Time Matrix and the humans (by this time, Arbron had been trapped as a Taxxon and had stayed behind on the planet), I ordered Aristh Elfangor to destroy several traveling pools of Yeerks. Murder them, basically. He refused. Elfangor couldn't murder helpless enemies. And I, who had been on the edge for years, finally went over. Elfangor had no choice to knock me out and assume command of my ship, the _Jahar_.

What I didn't know, I added, was that a Yeerk by the name of Sub-Visser Seven was hiding out in the head of one of the humans, Chapman. For some reason, Jake, Marco, Ax, and Cassie all exchanged astonished glances at the name. Loren nodded, since she already knew the whole story. The Sub-Visser crawled out of Chapman, who had sold himself to the Yeerk Empire, and into War-Prince Alloran.

Sub-Visser Seven was later promoted to Visser Thirty-two, then eventually Visser Three, Alloran finished. He gave Ax a hard look. So you see, young one, it wasn't your brother's fault. I brought my fate onto myself.

Ax didn't appear convinced. He looked at me. What happened once Visser Three took over Alloran?

I laughed. It's a long story. Basically, it involves an alternate universe, me running away to Earth and hiding the Time Matrix in a construction site, getting married, then getting sent back to the war, being promoted, and finally ending up in the same construction site where I had buried the Time Matrix. I broke the law of Seerow's Kindness, and I've been here ever since.

"We could elaborate on what happened after Elfangor died," Jake said, "but I don't think we should."

Alloran looked confused. You broke the law of Seerow's Kindness? How?"

Marco, Ax, and Cassie all looked at Jake. He seemed uncomfortable. "Well, um, you know those Andalite bandits the Visser wanted so badly to catch?"

Yes, Alloran said.

"There's really something you should know about them . . . "

__

Chapter Eight -- Erek

"This way," I said. 

"You sure about that?" Tobias asked.

"No." 

"Then why the heck am I following you?" 

"Because you're behind me."

"Veeeery funny," Tobias grumbled. "Wish I could morph." 

We'd already established that morphing was prominently impossible in the abyss. Tobias thought it had something to do with the fact that the abyss was mostly dreams and memories, and that you can't physically morph in your dreams. Personally, it seemed a little farfetched, even to me. I came up with a much better explanation that I decided against mentioning.

The Ellimist wouldn't let us. That's much simpler, wouldn't you agree?

"Can I be in the lead for a change?"

"No." 

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"You know, this is getting really annoying."

"I agree. Be quiet. You're sounding like Marco."

"Somebody has to fill in." Tobias fell silent.

We continued to walk in the direction I had pointed to. I was getting used to Tobias' pointless blather, actually. I almost missed it.

"You know, I think we're going around in circles."

"How can you tell? Everything's exactly the same. Boxes, timelines, more boxes, and more timelines."

"Maybe I should start leaving markers, just to make sure."

I spun around. "I know where I'm going, Tobias. I'm an android. This is not the same area that we were in the last time you mentioned you thought we were going in circles. We are getting closer to the core of the abyss."

Tobias looked over my shoulder. "I believe you."

"For the last time . . . what?" It took a minute for his words to register. "How come?"

"Look behind you."

I looked. 

"Oh, man."

__

Chapter Nine -- Marco

Alloran was . . . uh . . . _stunned_. To say the least. Once Jake finished telling him just who and what the "Andalite bandits" were, he just sort of stared at us, looking from Jake to Ax to Cassie to me, then back to Jake. Humans? he whispered incredulously. The Yeerks have been having a fit over a bunch of _humans_? Un. Be. Lieve. Able. Unbelievable.

I scowled at him. "Well, believe it. We're the Animorphs."

I thought you said there were six of you. 

Cassie nodded. "Two of us are in another dimension right now, though."

"Yeah, some place called the Abyss," I said. 

"Marco?" Loren asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You paused in the middle of that sentence." She looked at me worriedly. 

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did." 

"No, I didn't."

"You did it again!" my mother exclaimed.

This was beginning to sound familiar. "Just like I told Tobias, Rachel and Erek, no _I did not!_"

"Marco?"

"Yaaaahhh!" I sat straight up and looked around wildly. Rachel was kneeling beside me, staring at me like I was nuts. I continued screaming for about ten minutes, then stopped abruptly to catch a breath. "Where am I?"

"The abyss," Rachel said, looking at me like I was crazy. "Where did you think I was?"

"Never mind," I shook my head. The psycation was over. "Listen. Crayak is going after the Ellimist's Realm. We need to get Erek and Tobias, and we need to get out of here. If Crayak gets the Realm, this whole place is going to collapse."

"Tobias and Erek went ahead to find the core," Rachel said, standing up. "I don't know how long they've been gone."

I cursed under my breath. "Okay. Look. Visser Three showed up in the Golden Communities and went tail-to-tail with Ax. Ax destroyed him, and now we've got the Visser's dead host hanging around."

"Visser Three is dead?" Rachel repeated. 

"Yeah," I said. "It was actually pretty cool to watch." I was getting off subject. "But now that the Visser's dead, the virus is under _no one's_ control. It's out of control. How do I know this? I saw it while I was snapping out of that stupid psycation. We need to get Erek and Tobias, we need to get that program into the center, then we need to get the hell out of here before Crayak and the Ellimist go _mano a mano_ with each other and blow us all the Kingdomcome!"

Rachel looked at me. "Okay," she said calmly. "We can't morph. Let's run."

We ran.

__

Chapter Ten -- Tobias

It was the largest sphere of light I had ever seen. It reminded me strangely of the Time Matrix that we had seen back when we were fighting Visser Four (something Visser Four doesn't even know about now), but it was different. It was larger, for starters, and it wasn't entirely white. In fact, it seemed to be made up of hundreds of lights, swirling together in a circular pattern.

Have you ever seen the movie _Men In Black_? The one with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones? Remember the part where that doctor (Laurel Something-or-other) was writing up her findings and Orion jumps onto her table wearing that galaxy thing? Well, remember when the camera zoomed in on the galaxy and you saw all those stars and everything? Yeah. That's what it looked like. 

It was so big, you couldn't even see around it to the other side. I desperately wished I had my wings, because I would've been getting a set of glorious thermals from this thing. "Wow," I breathed. Erek nodded, stunned. I looked at him. "Think you can download into this?"

He frowned. "If I could find its mainframe, sure. But this thing is just a bunch of swirling lights in a ball. I haven't a clue how to hook-up to it."

"What if you just touch it?" I suggested.

"I could just touch it," he muttered. (He hadn't heard me.)

While Erek got busy figuring out how to download and copy his virus program into the core's mainframe, I busied myself with trying to figure out how far away we were from Rachel and Marco. _Let's see_, I thought to myself. _According to Erek, we went around in a circle about seventeen times, each time the circle getting smaller and smaller (apparently you couldn't just walk straight up to it). If the first circle was about two miles long, and each circle grew smaller by a foot, and if you subtracted the amount of space the core takes up . . . _"Oh, forget it," I growled. "Who are you trying to kid, Tobias? You're not Ax. You got C's in Algebra, remember?"

Instead I looked in the general direction we had come from. I couldn't see them. Not even a dot that might have been them. "I can't see them, therefore they're not close by," I said. "How's that for a scientific equation?" 

Feeling pretty proud of myself, I turned around . . . 

"Yaaah!"

"Oh, jeez!" Marco complained, jumping about ten feet in the air (okay, so I'm exaggerating. Slightly.)

"What are you two doing here?" I shouted after I managed to save myself from having a massive coronary failure (heart attack, for all you med school dropouts). "And how did you get here so quickly?"

"We ran straight here," Rachel said. "It only took about fifteen minutes."

I looked at Erek. "I thought you said we couldn't walk straight towards it."

Erek was busy pressing some buttons on a panel on his arm. "I said you couldn't _walk_ straight towards it. I never said anything about running."

I glared at him, then turned back to Rachel. "I'm never going anywhere with him ever again," I glowered. Then I noticed the looks on their faces. "What is it?"

"We have to get out of here, " Marco said quickly. "Crayak's going to attack the Ellimist's Realm, and once he does this whole place'll collapse!"

"Erek, come on!" I shouted.

"I can't," he called back. "I've already started downloading."

"Abort it."

"It'll kill me!" 

"Never mind!" I turned to Marco. "How much time do we have?"

"Not a lot."

__

Chapter Eleven -- The Ellimist

I was sitting in my chamber, silently going over memos that my superiors had given me. Worrying about the mortals trapped in the Abyss. Worrying about the virus was that destroying everything my kind had been attempting to preserve for hundreds of thousands of millions of years. 

I glanced at one memo. "What do they mean, I haven't done my planetary checks this millennium? I turned those in ten years ago!"

I set the memo in the 'return to sender' pile, and picked up the next message globe. "'The council hereby invites you to a celebration' blah blah blah. Yeah, right. I'm trying to save ten hundred species from dying out, and they want me to attend some wedding." I fast forwarded the message to find out who it was for. "Oh, big surprise. Dakof's getting married again. That's the eleventh time this century! I hope all his kids and ex-wives won't be there -- it'll be huge!"

Out of the entry tube, another message globe shot in, this one red. Red means urgent. I powered it up.

"Ah, so Alloran's finally decided to join us here," I muttered. "I hope that means Visser Three went to the wastelands as well." Normally, at this point, I figure out which community to send him to and go about my business. Unfortunately, I had to set Alloran aside with the other billion entrants waiting to be placed. "The communities are falling apart," I muttered. "I hope the council got my --" 

__

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Yes?" I called. Of course, to whoever it was, it was more like 'yes?', what with my deep, all-around voice. "What do you want?" 

Who would be banging on my 

"Well, hello, Ellimist," a voice crowed.

I tensed up immediately. "Hello, Drode," I growled. 

"Nice place you've got here."

"It's not a place where you're welcome." I stood up and moved around the front of my desk. "What does your master want? And if it's another champion match, you can tell him to forget it. I've got more important things to do than to cater to his ever whim."

Drode never lost his never-ending smirk. "Actually, that's not what the all-mighty all-powerful Crayak wants."

"Then what is it?" I demanded impatiently.

"What he's always wanted. The Ellimist's Realm."

I barked out a harsh laugh. "He's crazy. There's no way anyone can get in this Realm unless they're invited. And you better believe that I will never extend an invitation to your boss."

"Oh really?" Suddenly Drode's voice changed to a deep rumbling sound. I stared in horror as what was once a man-shaped green prune melted away into a large metal box with a red eye sticking out of the top. Long, spidery legs pushed out of the bottom of the box, and Crayak himself rose above everything.

"You and me, Ellimist," he roared. "This time, nothing in the universe will be destroyed." 

Then he focused his bloodshot eye on me. 

"But your 'champions' will never escape the Abyss alive."

__

Can anyone say 'cliffhanger'? :: sighs :: What will happen when Crayak and the Ellimist fight? Will the virus get destroyed. Will Ax ever eat another Cinnabun again? Find out in Elysia Wars #9 Fight to the Finish -- coming soon to a fanfiction near you! :: cheesy, I know ::

****

URGENT!

Here's a sneak peek of the story that comes AFTER Elysia Wars #10:

2032

After the end of the Elysia Wars, Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco and Ax return to Earth -- only to find that 33 years have gone by since they left for the Golden Communities. Earth is lying in ruins, and the war is finally out in the open. The few people who survived live in hidden encampments underneath the ground. The Yeerks are winning. But they can't consider Earth their territory until they clean up one big problem.

They're called the AAA. The Andalite-Animorph Alliance. When the Andalites finally arrived on Earth, they were all but destroyed. Only a handful survived, nursed back to health by the peaceful Chee. Together, with the help of what's left of the human race and some unlikely allies, they slowly began to build the resistance that continues to hold its own -- until the Animorphs show up on their doorstop. 

IN A WORLD OF FEAR AND SLAVERY, THEY ARE THE ONLY HOPE. 


	9. Default Chapter Title

****

The Elysia Wars #9 Fight to the Finish

__

Chapter One -- Tobias

A tremor shook the ground beneath our feet, causing Rachel, Marco and me to lose our balance and hit the ground hard. Only Erek, who was still attached to the large central core of the Abyss, managed to stay standing. 

Rachel helped me to my feet just as another tremor ripped through the Abyss. Both of us were once again knocked down. This time Rachel landed in my lap. We both blushed and quickly stood up. So did Marco.

"For future reference, after the ground shakes like that, usually expect an aftershock," Marco informed us.

"How do you know that?" Rachel demanded.

"I don't _always_ sleep through science."

Suddenly Erek stepped away from the core. "All right," he said. "That's done."

"The program? It's downloaded?" I demanded.

"Completely. It'll work, unless the Abyss falls apart before it manages to filter into the entire system. I would definitely advise that we not be here to find out." Erek switched his hologram back on and hurried over to us. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Rachel shouted over the roar of the shaking ground. "If the Ellimist is busy with Crayak then there's no way he can get us out of here."

"He doesn't have to!" Marco shouted back. "I can probably get a hold of Loren in the netherworld. Combined with my abilities, she should have enough power to get all four of us safely to where they are."

"And if she doesn't?" I asked.

"Then we'll, you know, combust or something." Marco looked at me indignantly. "I don't think it really matters, though -- it's not like we have a choice!"

He was right. We had not choice. Staying in the Abyss was not an option. 

The ground began to crack. "DO IT!" I shouted.

Marco closed his eyes and began moving his mouth. No sound came out, but I knew, somehow, that my mother could hear every word from where she was. "She can't move us unless we have a firm grip on each other!" he said. 

I reached out and grabbed Rachel's hand. She in turn grabbed Erek's arm. Marco didn't grab anyone -- he could get himself out on his own. 

I hoped. 

The crack was getting bigger, and Rachel was tightening her grip on my hand. I almost cried out in pain when she squeezed really hard. My hand was turning white! "Rach, loosen your grip a little -- you're breaking my hand!" She loosened it, but not by much. My hand still throbbed painfully.

Then, the next feeling I had was of floating. There wasn't any ground underneath me. My first thought was, oh shit the crack opened up beneath us! We're going to fall! But then I noticed that, even though we were suspended in mid-air, we weren't falling. We were just . . . floating.

The Abyss started twisting and turning, like it was actually one of the spinning wheels where you pour paint into it and the wheel spins the paper and the paint ends up in a swirl. Even though we weren't moving, I couldn't seem to close my eyes, and my stomach started getting a little queasy. Had I been a hawk, I would've probably been more or less okay. But I was human, and with humans there's such a thing as motion sickness.

Then we dropped.

It was only about a foot, though.

"Ow!" (Erek)

"Hey!" (Me)

"Watch it!" (Rachel)

"Get your metal foot off my rib cage, Erek!" (Marco)

"Man, are we glad to see you guys!" And that was Jake and Cassie talking simultaneously. 

One by one, we picked ourselves up off the ground. "Let's never do that again," I suggested. 

"What's happening?" Marco's mother demanded.

"The Abyss is falling apart," Erek said quickly. "I managed to download the virus-destruction into the core's mainframe, but it won't work if the Abyss falls apart before it filters into the entire system. Crayak and the Ellimist are probably at each other's throats by now, and Marco says the virus is out of control now that Visser Three is dead."

Did I forget to mention that part? an Andalite said. 

"Yahh!" I shouted when I recognized him.

"Chill, Tobias," Marco chided. "That's Visser Three's old host. Visser Three isn't in him. They're dead."

"Oh." But I was still shaking like a leaf. 

We need to get to the Ellimist's Realm and help him, Elfangor ordered. Most of the other rings are still evacuating. I think the virus is still active in several parts of the Golden Communities. Which parts I don't know. We have to hope that it's not where we're going.

"Can the living get into the Realm?" I wondered. "When the Ellimist . . ."

"I don't think it really matters," Jake said shakily. "Look!" 

We looked. 

Heading right for us were dozens, if not hundreds, of very dead people. Very evil looking people. 

Crayak's brought the wastelands here, Elfangor whispered, terror creeping into his voice. We don't stand a chance.

__

Chapter Two -- Jake

"One question," I said. "Can they hurt us?"

Yes, Elfangor answered. 

"Can we hurt them?"

Yes.

I looked at the rest of the Animorphs. "Okay," I said. "Come on, guys. Battle morphs. Ax, you morph, too. You're not in good shape right now." Ax nodded in agreement. 

War-Prince Alloran looked at me like I was crazy. They'll tear us apart!

"They have us surrounded," I pointed out. "I, for one, am not going down without a fight."

I concentrated on the tiger. I knew his DNA was flowing inside me - I had become him several times in the past. I knew how to handle him. As my muscles began bunching up and growing and my spine began to elongate, I took a look around at my friends. 

Tobias, erasing the final traces of human from his hawk morph.

Cassie, already completely a wolf and staring passively at the oncoming enemy.

Rachel, with long blond hair, blue eyes, and the massive paws of a grizzly. 

Marco, with huge shoulders and white fur appearing from every possible place as he became the mighty polar bear.

And Ax, a very freakish sight of blue fur and gray feathers as he shrank into the harrier. 

We were a circus act. But, judging from the way a quarter of the onslaught slowed down, some of them had once come face-to-face with us before. Perhaps they'd even died from us. And I knew . . . I _knew_ . . . that they were afraid. 

My knees completely changed direction and I dropped daintily to all fours. I was ten feet long and seven hundred pounds of sheer terror and force -- and they knew it. I was the Siberian tiger. 

I was a Siberian tiger surrounded by a red-tail hawk, a northern harrier, a grizzly bear, a polar bear, and a wolf. Even the people who knew we were on their side seemed wary of us. 

Elfangor, I said. Can you guess fight?

Don't worry about us, Elfangor said. We didn't survive this long by hiding.

The lines from the wastelands were almost here. They were fifty feet away and closing. Okay, you guys. Here's the plan: we kick some evil butt. And no one, absolutely no one -- _Ax, Rachel, Elfangor, Alloran_ -- has my permission to get killed. _Got it?_

One by one, everyone agreed.

"Um, Elfangor --?" Loren started, but I cut her off.

All right then. On my command. I watched as they got closer. Forty feet. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six . . . Attack!

__

Chapter Three - Loren

Both sides attacked at the same time. Now, I can understand Elfangor and Alloran, and even the Animorphs fighting. They actually have built in defenses. But I guess no one stopped to think about me and Laura.

I grabbed Laura's arm and pulled her behind a large rock. "I don't suppose you have any weapons, do you?" I asked.

"No," Laura answered. "Not even a Dracon beam. What about you?"

"I gave my knife to Devone for protection . . . not that he'd ever use it," I admitted. "So now we're sitting ducks."

"Quack, quack," Laura chided.

"So not funny." 

I glanced over the rock just in time to see Elfangor slice a very large spider right down the middle. I decided that maybe watching wouldn't be such a good idea.

"There must be a way through these forces," Laura muttered. "There _must_ be."

I suddenly noticed something peculiar about some of the attackers. They seemed to be hanging back. "Why do you think those guys aren't attacking?" I wondered, pointing at the small group standing in the trees. They were looking decidedly disgusted by the entire fight.

"I haven't got a clue," Laura said, "but I think I recognize one of them . . . wait! I _do_ know one of them! That human, right there. Beside the big Hork-Bajir. That's Asher Ortiz -- he formed a symbiote with one of the members of the Yeerk Peace Movement. Last I heard, he was tried as a traitor along with his Yeerk, Gargo 278. I wonder how he got in with the wastelands. He was such a nice boy. Barely twenty-five." She sounded sad.

I frowned. "He might have gotten caught by the virus, and sent to the wasteland. But then he'd be evil. Souls that are destroyed in the Golden Communities always turn evil."

"And this is proven?" 

"No . . ."

"Come with me." Laura was already moving quietly towards the group of people. I didn't have a chance to protest. No one was paying the slightest bit of attention to us, not even the people who knew we were there. I told myself that I was going to have a talk with Elfangor about that once this was all over. 

Laura came up behind the boy, Asher, and grabbed his arm. I braced myself, expecting a weapon to come flying out of nowhere. Instead, Asher calmly turned around. The Hork-Bajir and two others with him glanced over, but he just shook his head. I stood next to Laura just in time to hear what they were saying.

"Laura?" Asher grinned. "Nemu hoped you were still alive. You _are_ alive, right?" 

Laura nodded. "Yes. I sneaked in aboard one of the imported Bug fighters. What are you doing here, Asher?" 

Asher glanced around, seemed to decide it was safe, then lowered his voice: "I bring a message to Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul from Warrior Arbron-Latros-Ifinal." He slid a piece of paper out of his pocket and into Laura's. "Make sure he gets it."

"He's kind of tied up right now," I interjected.

Asher nodded. "There's a path around the mountains. Once you step onto it, no one will be able to see you. Follow it for about five miles, and you'll reach a small field. My forces will hold back Crayak's followers long enough for you to escape."

Laura and I nodded. "Come on," I said, grabbing her arm.

"Thanks, Asher!" Laura whispered.

"Don't mention it." He turned and look at the battle field. That was when I noticed that about half of the lines were just kind of half-heartily fighting, if they were at all. Asher brought his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle.

Boy, was Elfangor and the others surprised when the non-fighters stopped, turned, and started beating up on Crayak's followers. I actually heard their shouts of surprise. "Over here!" I shouted to Elfangor. "Hurry!" 

What is going on? he demanded. 

I grabbed his arm and started pulling him after me. "Just move."

I smiled gratefully in Asher's direction as we ran for the path he had pointed out, but I don't think he saw me. 

__

Chapter Four -- Elfangor

Loren and Laura practically shoved us away from that fight. Every time one of us demanded to know what was going on, they just shouted at us to keep moving. I was in a slight daze. 

What just happened? I demanded when Loren finally stopped in a clearing. That had to have been the easiest escape in history.

Laura was leaning against a tree and breathing heavily. "A lot of those guys were former Community people," she wheezed. "Your theories about them turning evil were incorrect, and I think they just proved that. Aside from being sent to the wastelands when their communities were destroyed, a least of third of them used to work for the Yeerk Peace Movement. They had the whole thing planned from the start."

"They were helping us?" Marco asked as he neared the end of his transformation.

"Yes."

"Why?" 

Laura pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to me. "It's from Arbron."

Hurriedly, I unfolded the letter and began reading:

To Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, Prince;

Hey, Elfangor. I bet you didn't exactly intend to hear from me again. First, I want to say that everyone here is okay: me, Strike, Tycoola, Met - we're all fine. We've managed to locate each other and quite a few other people. 

Asher said he'd smuggle this letter to you for me, so I guess I better get to the point of this. I know you're probably going to go help the Ellimist now, so there are a few things you should know.

    1. Neither the Ellimist nor Crayak can interfere with mortals directly. 

    2. Energy is energy.

    3. Crayak is vulnerable to iron: be sure to have some nearby. 

That's about it. Give my regards to Loren and the others, and you and the Animorphs will be happy to know that we're giving Visser Three exactly what he deserves down here.

Au revoir (Until we meet again),

Arbron-Latros-Ifinal, Warrior

P.S. Strike wants to add something:

Hey, Elfangor! Just wanted to say that things aren't the same around here without you to annoy. Oh, yeah: Loren and Elfangor, sitting in a tree, K-I=S-S-

Ignore the above comment, please. 

I smiled slightly and refolded the note. Loren took it and placed it in her pocket. "What did he say?" 

Everyone's in one piece in the wastelands, I said. They're making the best of a bad situation. And Arbron gave us some hints.

"Hints?" Jake was confused. "What do you mean?"

He told us how we could defeat Crayak.

__

Chapter Five -- Cassie

We all looked at Elfangor attentively. 

First, he began, neither Crayak nor the Ellimist can interfere with mortals – that's us – directly.

"We already knew that," Marco muttered. "The Ellimist has reminded us several times of that. But there's always a loophole."

Everyone ignored him.

Second: energy is energy – whatever that means. And third: Crayak is vulnerable to iron.

"That's all he said?" Jake asked.

That's all he said.

I frowned. "What did he mean by, energy is energy?"

Marco snickered. "Are you sure it was Arbron who sent that, and not the Ellimist himself? That sounds like something the all-powerful blue guy would say."

Everyone glared at Marco.

"What?" he demanded. "What'd I say?" 

Everyone ignored Marco.

I didn't mean to, but right at that moment I yawned. I didn't even bother to cover my mouth. And you know how they say yawns are contagious? Well, at that moment they could have done a case study. Seconds after I yawned, Jake yawned. Then Loren, then Rachel, then – well, you get the basic idea.

We all realized then that we were very tired.

"Didn't you people sleep at all?" Erek demanded. It was the first thing he'd said since he'd gotten back from the Abyss – or what was left of it. 

"We were afraid the virus would come back," Loren said.

Erek just shook his head. "Look. Why don't you guys try and get some sleep? I'll keep an eye out for awhile. I doubt Crayak and the Ellimist are going to annihilate each other in the next half hour, so just take a breather."

Jake and Elfangor decided this was a very good idea. We were all very tired. We'd only gotten about five hours of off-and-on sleep, at the max. I think I only got an hour. And Rachel, Tobias, and Marco had gotten zero. They were practically sleepwalking.

So we all agreed to get some sleep.

"Just for a few minutes," Jake reminded Erek. "We don't want to sleep too long."

Erek nodded. 

We all kind of just collapsed wherever we were. Half of us went to sleep right away. I was trying to, when I noticed that Jake was staring up at the sky. "What is it?" I asked.

He bit his lip. "Do you think we'll get out of this?"

"Yeah," I said. "I do. We've been in worse messes before."

He nodded. "Erek said a week had gone by when he got here. That was twenty-four hours ago, Elysia time. I wonder how much time has passed since then."

I realized what he was getting at. "You're not worried about getting home, you're worried about whether or not home will still be there when we get back."

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, what if we get home and the Yeerks have won? Earth is destroyed? And all because we weren't there to stop it. Instead, we were running around the afterlife trying to stop a computer virus from eating everything." He expression turned sober. "My brother might be dead, and it's all my fault."

I reached over and grabbed his hand. I couldn't think of anything to say that would comfort him, and I knew that there were no words that could. So I just held his hand. 

Not for the first time, I realized just how hard a job Jake really had. He was the only Animorph who lived under the same roof as a Controller. He was our unofficial leader, the guy who sent his friends into battle at a moments notice, who decided whether or not we should fight or retreat. He had to make flash decisions on the spot, and he couldn't worry about whether it was right or whether it was wrong. He knew everything about us, and used that to our advantage. Maybe he was even a bit manipulative if he needed to be.

He'd been this way for three years.

Eventually, even Jake drifted off to sleep. But now I was the one thinking. I wasn't thinking about what Jake had said, though. I was thinking about what Arbron had written.

__

Energy is energy. The words swam around in my head. Bits and pieces of science lectures came rushing into my consciousness. _Energy is energy, and everything has a limit. _

Energy is energy, and everything has a limit.

Energy is energy, and everything has a limit.

Energy is energy, and every – _that's it!_

I woke up and sat straight up, startling everyone around me, even Erek. "Energy is energy, and even Crayak must have a limit!"

__

Chapter Six – The Ellimist

"We cannot fight here!" I shouted as Crayak once again tried to blow me up. "It'll destroy the careful balance between the Golden Communities and the Wastelands!"

Crayak growled. "Isn't that the point?" he snarled. "You and your people have been in a state of grace for far too long. Now it's my turn!"

I had to protect the waiting souls who had yet to be placed in the communities. Their preservation came before mine. "Can't we take this someplace else?" I pleaded. 

Crayak's answer was a well aimed photon bolt at my head. I barely managed to block it with an increased energy shield. He wasn't using an energy shield, and mine was draining me slowly. If I activated my full power, the entire Realm would be destroyed. Every Ellimist, every community, every planet under my watch. 

And he knew it. 

The pact we had made eons ago had been broken by Crayak. But he was one. There were hundreds of Ellimists throughout the dimensions, and I could not break the pact of not fighting directly without their agreement.

And he knew it. 

If I was forced out of my Realm, Crayak would have full and complete control over everything. He'd have my power, and would be one step closer to total dimensional domination.

And he knew it.

"You're in a trap, Ellimist," Crayak growled. "You don't stand a chance against me. I can feeling your power draining out of you. It'll be only a matter of time before you fall and quiver beneath my might."

"Even a foul creature such as yourself knows that something cannot be all evil or all good. What makes you believe you can force the entire dimension to follow you?"

"You're wrong about that, Ellimist," he sneered. "I can tell you one place that is complete evil: my wastelands."

"How can you be so sure?" 

That stopped him momentarily. But only momentarily. "I grow tired of this chatter," he said in a bored tone. "It's time to finish this, Ellimist. Let down your shield and fight me to the finish!" 

I drew in a deep breath and shook my head. "Let down your shield or I'll destroy your precious communities."

My head snapped up. "You wouldn't."

His expression told me otherwise. 

I closed my eyes and told myself that I had no choice. I had to break my vow of indirect fighting in order to save the lives and souls of millions of people. I could no longer turn my back on the evil that Crayak was bringing to the world. 

My power began to concentrate into one area. I drew the power from the Realm inside of me, and prepared to scar my reputation as a peaceful race for eternity. 

I opened my eyes. 

it ends tonight, crayak.

We were transported out of the Realm, to the community of Nitram.

__

Chapter Seven -- Crayak

The Ellimist chose a flat, out of the way place to fight. Just like him, always concerned about innocent people being harmed. Hah. When was he going to learn that no one was innocent?

He wasn't, of course. I was going to destroy him, and soon I would be Supreme Ruler of the Dimensions!

There was nothing he could do about it.

"Rules of the game, Ellimist," I said. "Neither of us can use weapons or shields. We can't use anything on the ground or in the air. No trees, no rocks. We can't hide. It must be open, face-to-face combat. This fight is between us, and no one else."

if that is what you choose, crayak, then so be it, the Ellimist said. but remember: you must abide by those rules, as well.

"No problem, old man," I sneered. I took a step forward with one of my spider legs. "This will be over in no time." 

The Ellimist didn't flinch. I couldn't read any facial expressions from him at all. He was afraid, and he knew that I knew. 

A photon blast erupted out of nowhere, almost catching me in the face. I dodged it, taking several steps back. 

hah hah hah, the Ellimist taunted. is the mighty crayak afraid of a little photon blast? hah hah hah.

It's no secret that I loathe and detest the Ellimist. But at that moment, I actually kind of admired him. He had taken the first shot, and then had the nerve to mock me to my face. 

Of course, that would be his mistake. 

But there was no need to tell him that. 

I grew a tentacle out of the side of my body. One thing about being a cyborg*: you often have little surprises waiting around everything corner. I whipped the tentacle forward and wrapped it around the Ellimist's neck. I began to focus my energy –

He disappeared! 

you can't contain me that easily, crayak. come on – i know you can do better than that. I could hear the smile in his voice. 

"Where are you, you little fink!" I shouted. "Remember the rules – no hiding!"

i'm not hiding. i'm right here. it isn't my fault if you can't see me.

Stupid Ellimist with his stupid Ellimist tricks! I could feel my rage begin to boil up inside of me. I felt nothing but rage and fury towards this creature of peace and good. 

The Ellimist continued to mock me, taunt me, and annoy me. I began lashing out with my tentacle, trying to get a grip on him. Everything I touched was air!

"ARRRGGGHHHH!" I screamed in rage. I hadn't felt so annoying since the time that human Jake destroyed my entire legion of Howlers. He'd be the first to go once I got rid of the Ellimist. I concentrated my energy, and fired a photon in all directions. 

The Ellimist gasped in surprise, and suddenly popped into my view. 

"What's the matter? The mighty Ellimist can't handle a little photon blast?" I sneered. "You're such a fool, Ellimist. A goody-goody, peace-loving, chicken-hearted fool." He was staggering from the blow. The photon had cut through his energy levels. I wrapped a tentacle around his neck, preparing to hold him still so that I could crush him. 

__

Fwit! Fwit! 

A searing pain shot through me. My tentacle cramped up, and I turned to look at what had hit it. A long spear was sticking out of it. Another one was right next to it. 

They're iron, Crayak, a voice said in my head. They're iron.

*{Author's note: A cyborg is a living creature that is half flesh and blood, half machine. And, even though Crayak is mostly just a big eye attached to a box, we can't escape the fact that all of K.A. Applegate's descriptions of him depict him as a cyborg. Hope that clears something up for some people.}

__

Chapter Eight – Marco

I will say this once, and only once. 

__

THIS WAS SO COMPLETELY NOT MY IDEA!

I was _not_ the one who wanted to throw iron-tipped spears at the long metal tentacle that was attached to Crayak. That was Loren's idea. Sheesh, that woman is insane. She's worse than _I_ am. She's worse than Rachel. If Rachel's Xena, than Loren was definitely Callisto. I can't believe she and Tobias are related. Bird-boy _must_ take after his father's side of family. 

I didn't even want to go after Crayak. But everyone insisted, since I'm psychic and everything. They thought I might be able to help. 

Ha. Right. Me, Marco, help. Not on this suicide mission. No _thank you_. 

Jake and Elfangor made us all come. I don't know why. Erek couldn't do anything. Neither could my mom. Cassie never liked Crayak in the first place (although maybe she was hoping Jake would kiss her. After all, last time we faced Crayak . . . never mind). 

I had the feeling we were all having mixed feelings about this.

Anyway, back to just after Elfangor threw those spears. 

Crayak turned his big, ugly red eye in our direction. His entire tentacle had gone completely limp. "You little . . . Ellimist! We had a deal!" 

The Ellimist tried to stand up, but he was laughing. 

{Author's note: Let's just clear something up. For the sole purpose of not confusing people so badly that they get bored and stop reading this fic, the Ellimist looks human. Besides which, I find it very hard to write a big fighting scene between two almost all-powerful beings when the true shape of one of them is most definitely unknown. So the Ellimist resembles a human.}

we agreed, crayak, that _you and i_ wouldn't use weapons. we never said anything about elfangor and the others.

Crayak growled. "They shouldn't even _be _here! My forces should've taken care of them!" 

I snorted indignantly. "Your so-called _forces_ helped us get here. A lot of them lived in the communities at one point or another – I guess they happened to like the Ellimist a bit more than you."

apparently you were wrong, crayak. nothing can be entirely evil. not even your wastelands.

Crayak looked like he wanted to chop someone's head off. I desperately hoped it wouldn't be mine. Then he decided to think better of it. "You're going to wish you never did that," he growled. He turned his entire body – spider legs and all – towards us. His dead tentacle dragged behind him. Another one sprouted out the other side. With a deep rumbling sound (I think he was breathing), he whipped it forward – 

And the tentacle sailed harmlessly through us. That's right. Through us. I let out a breath I didn't even know I'd been holding. 

"What the – what happened?" Crayak demanded, outraged. 

The Ellimist couldn't keep it in anymore. He started laughing. remember the rules? this fight is between you and me – no one else. therefore, you can't touch them. you can't do anything to them. one the other hand –

He let his words hang in the air.

Crayak looked like he was going to protest. Then, he did something I didn't expect.

He surrendered.

__

Chapter Nine – Alloran

Crayak had surrendered, and the Ellimist had locked him up someplace that he wouldn't tell anyone. no offense, he said. it's not that i don't trust you. it's just that, well, it's better if no one knows where he's being kept. i don't think any of us want to risk that thing coming back.

"Hear, hear!" Marco praised, and everyone laughed.

It was a few hours after Crayak's surrender, and we were all crowded into the Ellimist's Realm. The Ellimist was busy passing out assignments for new arrivals into the Golden Communities.

"What's going to happen now, Ellimist?" Jake asked, leaning against the wall. 

The Ellimist sighed. "I suspect someone else will be chosen to run the wastelands. It'll take quite some time for things to get sorted out around here – a millennium, at least."

A millennium?" Ax repeated.

Elfangor chuckled. Don't look so dismayed, Ax. A millennium isn't all that long when you have eternity.

"About half of the Golden Communities were destroyed by that nasty Neutro-Virus," the Ellimist continued. "By the time those are rebuilt, we'll need to add on a few rings for new arrivals. Don't worry, Elfangor. Elysia will be one of the first rebuilt."

"What about all those people who got sent to the wastelands?" Cassie asked. "What's going to happen to them?"

"In time, they'll be able to return to the Golden Communities. I'll have a chat with the new Wasteland Director, who will hopefully be in a much better mood than Crayak was, and we'll work something out."

Are you going to get in trouble with the other Ellimists? I asked.

"Well, I did manage to lock away Crayak," he said, smiling. "With your help, of course. I think maybe they'll overlook this little mishap."

What about the virus? Elfangor demanded. What happened to it?

"The virus was half-Crayak," replied the Ellimist. "Not to mention, Erek's little anti-virus program helped."

"Let's thank Doctor Soloman for that," Marco laughed. 

Then the Ellimist grew solemn. "Now we come to the most important reason that I invited all of you here. This concerns many of you." He was looking at Jake and the other Animorphs, as well as Erek and Laura. "Some time has passed since you came here. Chances are you will not return to Earth the way you knew it. The virus did some damage, and time passes differently. Even I do not know what year it is. So you must make a decision – you can return to Earth, and take your chances. Or you may stay here in the Golden Communities for the rest of your lives, and when you die you will be kept here as well."

Jake glanced at us. "The choice is yours alone," the Ellimist reminded them.

May I say something? I said. The Ellimist is right about the time change. When I left, it was – 

"No, Alloran," Jake said. "We don't want to know what year it was. We need to make a decision, and it shouldn't be influenced by anything."

"I'm staying," Erek said suddenly. "There's a lot I can do here in the Communities. Not to mention that my creators are here. It'll be a second chance."

Laura nodded, and I saw a dawning fear cross Marco's face. She saw it as well. "Marco, I'd like to return home," she said. "But it's been too long – everyone thinks I'm dead. And if the Yeerks are still there, I'll just be putting you and your friends and everyone else in danger. Remember, I'm wanted there for treason. It's the only way."

"Then I'll stay, too!" Marco said. "I just got you back – I'm not going to lose you."

Laura shook her head. "You have to stay with your friends. If the Yeerks still exist on Earth, then you'll need to stop them. And I won't be gone forever. We'll see each other again." 

Jake placed a hand on Marco's shoulder, then glanced at each of the Animorphs. Tobias was looking at Elfangor and Loren, then at Ax. They nodded. Then Cassie, and Rachel, too. 

"We'll go back," Jake said. 

__

Epilogue – Jake

very well. the choice is yours alone. the golden communities will always be open to the six of you. we will see you soon. 

but not too soon.

Then, suddenly, we were back on Earth. 

But there was something different about it . . . 

__

Okay, okay, OKAY! I know I said there'd be an Elysia Wars #10, but there isn't. Instead, I'm going straight from #9 to 2032. Anyone wants to know why, here's the answer: I ran out of ideas. I'm sorry. It happens sometimes. 

Don't ask me when 2032 will be out. I don't know how long it'll be, and I'll be out of town for a week. Then school starts at the end of the month. Be patient, though – I'm not going to leave you hanging forever. 

****

Some of you may have missed the preview for 2032 that I tacked onto the end of Elysia Wars #8, so I'm sticking it here, too, as well as another work-in-progress:

2032

After the end of the Elysia Wars, Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, and Ax return to Earth – only to find that 33 years have gone by since they left for the Golden Communities. Earth is lying in ruins, and the war is finally out in the open. The few people who survived live in hidden encampments underground. The Yeerks are winning. But they can't consider Earth their territory until they clean up one big problem.

They're called the AAA. The Andalite-Animorph Alliance. When the Andalites finally arrived on Earth, they were all but destroyed. Only a handful survived, nursed back to health by the peaceful Chee. Together, with the help of what's left of the human race and a few unlikely allies, they slowly began to build the resistance that continued to hold its own – until the Animorphs showed up on their doorstep.

Dangerous Lives

Before the Animorphs returned home, the most the AAA ever did was hide out, free a few Controllers, and try to stay alive. Now they've got a real chance to do some damage to the Yeerks – especially their new leader, Nine. The ninth member of the Council of Thirteen. All they have to do is sneak into the ruined city of Manhattan. 

Then Marco receives a silent cry that holds certain danger for the sender. Undaunted, Marco sets off in search of the person once inside the city limits. But what he finds may be more than he bargained for.

Much more.

In a world of fear and slavery, they are the only hope.


End file.
